The final project I presented was actually the 7th iteration of the thesis after it went down several different paths. None of them fully worked out, but each option posed an interesting method and question. Sometimes, chasing those ideas was actually the fun part.
The core question stayed the same—how do you subvert the idea of a mall? But, the exploration kept shifting towards rethinking the mall typology entirely. In hindsight, those werent quite the right directions
The first drafts starting off were just different forms of Disneylands.
It eventually evolved into actual built masses and programs, leaning toward something more democratic and accessible to the public. Still though, it didn’t really address the core question.
Yet another iteration. This one was a different kind of subversion—imagining the entire land parcel as a massive public space, almost like an open garden. Utopian by commercial standards, but the idea was to give it back to the public.
Same Idea, another revision. But programs change this time around.
A new waste recycling facility is added and now the mall is practically submerged in the ground.
But again, it always circled back to the same issue—the project just wasn’t addressing the core question of capitalist commodification.
So, as a thought experiment, what if we keep the mall as is but bury the larger mass underground?
This iteration pushed the same idea but used the existing grid of the mall in a more sparse manner, opening it up as a garden while submerging the whole mass underground. It struck a healthy balance between commercial and public programs but still missed the mark when it came to addressing the theory.
This was the last iteration before the long break that led to the final project. That hiatus gave me much-needed clarity—helping me shift from dancing around the mall typology to actually addressing the idea of image.
Looking back, none of these options really worked out. But the process of fleshing out each iteration and seeing them through to resolution gave me a clearer understanding of what the real answer should’ve been.
