Horton, San Diego, California
Horton Plaza
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| Location | San Diego, California, USA |
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| Address | 324 Horton Plaza, San Diego, CA 92101-5481 |
| Opening date | August 9, 1985 |
| Developer | The Hahn Company |
| Management | Westfield Corporation |
| Owner | Westfield Corporation |
| No. of stores and services | 130 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| Total retail floor area | 758,003 sq ft (70,420.8 m2) |
| No. of floors | 5 |
| Parking | 2,189 |
| Public transit access | Civic Center station |
| Website | Official website |
Westfield Horton Plaza, not to be confused with its adjacent namesake Horton Plaza, is a five-level outdoor shopping mall located in downtown San Diego known for its bright colors, architectural tricks, and odd spatial rhythms. It stands on 6.5 city blocks adjacent to the city's historic Gaslamp Quarter. It was the first successful downtown retail center since the rise of suburban shopping centers decades earlier.
A 1972 proposal for the shopping center and a redevelopment district arose out of plans to "refurbish San Diego's historic town plaza", Horton Plaza. Due to numerous setbacks and resistance from preservation groups, construction did not begin until 1982. The plaza is named for Alonzo Horton, who was largely responsible for the location of downtown San Diego.
Horton Plaza was the $140 million centerpiece of a downtown redevelopment project run by The Hahn Company, and is the first example of architect Jon Jerde's so-called "experience architecture". When it opened in August 1985, it was a risky and radical departure from the standard paradigm of mall design. Its mismatched levels, long one-way ramps, sudden dropoffs, dramatic parapets, shadowy colonnades, cul-de-sacs, and brightly painted facades create an architectural experience in dramatic contrast to the conventional wisdom of mall management. Conventional malls are designed to reduce ambient sources of psychological arousal, so the customers' attention is directed towards merchandise. By making the mall an attraction in itself, Jerde stood this model on its head.
Jerde's project was based on Ray Bradbury's essay "The Aesthetics of Lostness". In it he extolled the virtues of getting "safely lost" as adults inspired by side streets of Paris, London, or New York.
Horton Plaza was an instant financial success and while some credited it for revitalizing downtown San Diego, others said the revitalization benefitted the mall.
When originally built, the center housed the historic Jessop's Clock, built in 1907, which formerly stood on a sidewalk in front of the Jessop and Sons jewelry store in Downtown San Diego.
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Wikipedia