walk through phoenix mall and babulnath temple (buildings still evolving)

so, we were in phoenix again today and what can i say that i haven't said earlier- except that it seems to me to be the least vile of all the developments in the mill lands- even though it is by far the most ramshackle- or actually - because of that. none of the glisten and sheen of what's directly across the road- the enormous towers rising from their enormous basements. grown over time, finding, searching and negotiating for space in between older buildings that it once was illegal to tear down- the mall has grown inwards and outwards out of the industrial sheds. the older kernel of the transformation still lies at the heart of the development. the 'courtyard- once faced by the most swishy of the discos 'fire and ice' that made the most out of its industrial patina and double height interior. now it is a 'spaghetti kitchen' -white and shiny right near a mcdonalds. other restaurants in older buildings lead from this courtyard to 'skyzone' the first mall-like shopping zone to emerge within the complex. to get here you have to walk under a bridge- it had no chance of being pleasant, this "street". the landscape plan seems like it learnt from back-streets and parking lots- how to make asphalt feel worse than it is.

'skyzone' is mall squeezed into an old office building. aluminium panels slapped onto the lower two floors, an interior of one double height lobby with a 'subway' and a corridor with shops on both sides. this 'mall' has recently been dwarfed many times over by the latest entrant into the space- the gigantic 'palladium' on the other side of the 'courtyard'. This hulk of a building can never really be seen from anywhere but from within its tacky marble floored, piss yellow lighted atrium- its extremities are submerged under terraces and parking lots at multiple levels.

this gargantuan parking lot is tucked away at the back of the complex and is entered through an incredible labyrinth of ramps that rise and fall and then rise again only to twist down again. one of the strange (happy?) accidents of the slow agglomeration of awful buildings in phoenix is that the clear separation of the service from the served; or the old from the new; or the tacky from the swank; or the garbage from the precious is never really clear. they are completely intertwined within one another. the two worlds seem to pass each other constantly pretending that the other does not exist. sudden juxtapositions offer no surprise- not even elicit an ironical smile- like that sequence of three spaces - from the parking lot- down a service stair- onto a raised terrace from where you enter the multiplex burning in the summer sun into the air conditioned atrium from where you descend into a shopping center- only to be thrust out again into the hot 'street' covered by construction material- and thats just for starters.

meanwhile the place keeps getting bigger and bigger. construction is still on. i am way beyond horror at this. i am at the point of numb amusement.

the glazed atrium between the parking lot and the 'street'

the street

courtyard

above the 'street'

along the route

'skyzone'

the play area outside 'skyzone'

palladium

and earlier today, i was at another landmark that has grown over time- babulnath temple at the base of malabar hill. you enter the gate and follow the steep street lined with chawls and come upon the horrific but rather fascinating as a tower from a possible fascist science fiction film that serves as a life-shaft. under the turn of the stairs a sadhu and his assistant peddle their religious paraphernalia. you rise following the gridded latticework of the covered corridors from the lift shaft up the stairs and underneath more bridges to the temple at the top of the hill.

the walk up

the walk down