balancing integration and discontinuity

The spiritual promise of the contemporary mall according to Zepp is made architectural at the central crossing of the two mall wings resulting in a circle. The formal similarity between the mall and places of worship can be made easily, but saying that they serve the same divine purpose for people is a radical claim that is not worth arguing in any academic manner because it relies on personal belief systems. What is more interesting is Zepp’s claim that the mathematical balance of the mall is a way of reinforcing that the world is ultimately safe. I think this is definitely an attractive asset that the mall has to offer urbanites and suburbanites. The atmosphere is highly regulated from the shiny polished floors, to the air conditioned corridors and shops, to the smells of cinnabon starbucks and aunt annies, to specific circulation routes. This highly regulated environment offers the consumer a sense of stability. Safety is almost always guaranteed as well being that malls typically are not accessible by public transportation therefore the lower class does not participate in these ‘sacred’ destinations.

Zepp seems to contradict himself when singing the praises of the mall. On one hand he argues the potential for the mall to be sacred because of its discontinuity from the ordinary world. On the other hand he argues that the mall attempts to make the world whole, to have it integrated, habitable, safe, and balanced. How does the mall make the world whole if it identifies itself as discontinuous from the ordinary world? Where is the integration in that? I think the mall attempts to be a micro utopian world in the sense that it offers all the goods and services of a city, but in a very clean, safe, timeless manner.