The Mall Comes to India

"The agenda of a mall is essentially an exclusive one. It is a space in which the chaos of the city is kept at bay and a manicured space created so that the business of consumption may be conducted in complete, if illusory, comfort. While that core agenda could not be entirely subverted in a commercial project, [The architect Charles] Correa chose to approach it from the other end. 'I said let us make an enjoyable public space leading up from the street to the air-conditioned shopping areas,' he says.

The main public space abutting the street stakes a significant claim on our imagination. It is dramatically jigged into the profile and form of the building, has a theatrical landscape of levels and, most importantly, is hospitable to everyone who walks in. Unlike in other malls, it is the public spaces of City Centre that remain more strongly etched in our minds than the indoor spaces."