The Americana at Brand
Opening cash registers and unfurling welcome mats in May 2008, the Americana at Brand in Glendale, California is a mixed-use urban design experiment. It blends consumerism, aspiration, and lifestyle by making it possible to, effectively, live at the mall. Concentrated within a 15.5 acre footprint, upscale shops and restaurants are integrated with luxury apartments, condominium towers, a suburban arbor canopy, and vintage-style food vendors. A trolley chugs around the streetlight-lined perimeter of the development, carrying pedestrians with vintage veneer, if not speed. A fountain spouting bi-hourly water and light shows is the centerpiece of a two-acre central green space: a town square with a touch of Vegas. All service staff, from the trolley conductor to the ice cream vendor, wear crisp custom-designed nostalgia uniforms, while Sinatra and his ilk play on public speakers all day. An enormous baroque chandelier hangs in open air, confirming the congnitive dissonance of the place.
Residents of the Americana receive bonus rewards for shopping on the property, and access to on-site amenities that include spas, pools, yoga classes, and meeting rooms. The obliging concierge crew fills services not included on the premises, from grocery shopping to dog walking to mail delivery. So, in theory, your commute to work could be the only reason to ever leave the mall. The Americana at Brand is Ivanka Trump meets Thornton Wilder: the ultimate marriage of capitalist consumerism and the classic America Dream.