Mysteries of the Mall and Other Essays

by Witold Rybczynski

A deep exploration of modern life that examines our cities, public places, and homes

In Mysteries of the Mall, Witold Rybczynski, the author of How Architecture Works, casts a seasoned critical eye on the modern scene. His subject is nothing less than the broad setting of our metropolitan world.

In thirty-four discerning essays, Rybczynski ranges over topics as varied as shopping malls, Central Park, the Opéra Bastille, and America's shrinking cities. Along the way, he examines our post-9/11 obsession with security, the revival of the big-city library, the rise of college towns, our fascination with vacation homes, and Disney's planned community of Celebration. By looking at contemporary architects as diverse as Frank Gehry, Moshe Safdie, and Bing Thom, revisiting old masters such as Palladio, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright, and considering such unsung innovators as Stanley H. Durwood, the inventor of the cineplex, Rybczynski ponders the role of global metropolises in an age of tourism and reflects on what kinds of places attract us in the modern city.

Mysteries of the Mall is required reading for anyone curious about the contemporary world and
how it came to be the way it is.

Genres: Nonfiction, Architecture, Essays, Design, Urban Planning, Urbanism

317 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Witold Rybczynski was born in Edinburgh, of Polish parentage, raised in London, and attended Jesuit schools in England and Canada. He studied architecture at McGill University in Montreal, where he also taught for twenty years. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also co-edits the Wharton Real Estate Review. Rybczynski has designed and built houses as a registered architect, as well as doing practical experiments in low-cost housing, which took him to Mexico, Nigeria, India, the Philippines, and China.

(From www.witoldrybczynski.com)

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat disappointing. Several of the essays were quite enjoyable, and reflected the book title, presumably focusing on modern commercial architecture. Others were dull, mostly those about contemporary architects.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like reading and learning about what other people do. One of my favorite genres is ethnography. That's not what this book is, but instead this book of essays gives insight into architecture. It's nothing i knew a thing about, which made it fun to read and consider.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in 2015 but contained essays that originally saw the light of day as early as the 90s. I guess it’s far too late to do something about it now, but the reader’s enjoyment of this book could have been enhanced by listing the date of publication at the beginning of the article itself, or, failing that, in a single place in the front or back of the book.

I also think that the name of the publication in which the article first appeared would have also added some useful information about what you were about to read. If you saw that the article first appeared in, say, The New York Times, then you can be pretty sure that the non-expert can read it without too many detours to reference works. On the other hand, articles that originally appeared in Architecture might turn out to be harder sledding, requiring knowledge of design trends (“Bay Area Shingle Style”, “British Free Style”) and names (Maybeck, Voysey, Mackintosh, Stickley) that are a mystery, even if you are more interested in this topic than the average non-professional.

A comment about one essay, entitled “Show Dogs” in this book, which was called “The Bilbao Effect” when published in The Atlantic in 2002: It is sad to read about the convoluted process that the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. used in 2001 when it decided to pick a celebrity architect for a projected new wing. From my perch here in the future, I not only know the new wing will never be built, but also that the Corcoran itself will be completely dissolved, its art donated to the National Gallery of Art, and its buildings absorbed into George Washington University, after decades of financial problems that were already well underway at the time that the decision was made to plan a new wing. Proposed lesson learned: When the trustees propose a new wing, that’s the time to call the accountants.

A separate comment about a different essay, entitled “Downsizing Cities” both in this book and when it was first published in 1995, also in The Atlantic. This essay proposes that bankrupt cities should elect to shrink themselves as an alternative to providing little or no services to its inhabitants. Unsurprisingly, this proposal got some positive notice from US right-wing press. Meanwhile, another reviewer here, in a review written last year, says this essay is “racist” and “classist” and caused her to put aside the book completely. It is possible to disagree with the author’s proposal but (1) name-calling is never a good idea, and (2) voluntarily holding yourself in ignorance of another person’s ideas because you disagree with them only hurts yourself. I’m not sure I agree with the proposal but at least it shows that he’s trying to break out of a pattern of behavior that persists from 1995 to today, that is, self-serving politicians make great promises to get elected while knowing that the misery they’ve pledged to reverse will continue as before.

[Bryn]

I stopped at about 25%, with the essay about how poor people of colour ought to understand that having their neighbourhoods demolished and being relocated to other parts of cities so that cities can downsize is not actually a political defeat, it is just common sense. Of course reading things I disagree with is uncomfortable, but that is not actually why I am stopping -- it is that these are all short pieces written for magazines, and Rybczynski seems to assume his readers share his grounding and biases, so he never explains why he's taking up these racist, classist positions -- obviously everyone shares his goals so why should he explain what the goal is and why this is the best way to get there? It is thus not just annoying but I am not actually learning anything from it. I may try one or more of his longer works where he would have time to develop his arguments. [Sept 2019]

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally interesting although somewhat uneven. The essays from the mid 90s were particularly interesting because they were a little dated - makes the trends in thinking around urban planning and architecture particularly clear, thus reminding me to be a little suspicious of today's writing. And works well as a crash course in important architecture, as long as you're willing to google dozens of names and buildings as you read.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays; the first half of the book is about urbanism (the design of cities and suburbs) while the second half is more about architecture (the design of original buildings).

The urbanism essays told me little I didn't already know, but might have been more interesting if I knew less. The author tries to steer a middle ground because supporters and critics of suburban sprawl; he treats suburbia as somewhat inevitable but likes new urbanism as well. His most interesting urbanism essay is about historic preservation; he writes that older cities and neighborhoods are popular with tourists because now that Industrial Revolution buildings have "lost their original functions, they are now worthy of aesthetic admiration." In addition, lower airfares have made older cities accessible to the entire world.

Generally I liked the architectural essays better, probably because I know less about architecture and thus was more likely to read something that I had not read before. The essay on Frank Lloyd Wright was particularly interesting; the author explains that because Wright built hundreds of suburban houses, his work is more accessible and more relevant to middle-class lives than the work of architects who focused on office buildings and grand civic spaces.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm. Witold Rybczynski does better in a long form. This collection of essays from the '90s and '00s is pleasant, but reading eight pages about how nicely an opera house is shaping up or why Witold likes the Bilbao Guggenheim so much isn't as much fun as reading Home or The Last Harvest. The best essay, Palladio in the Rough, is about a Charleston, SC builder creating Byzantine residential architecture in troubled neighborhoods, along with a Palladian villa for his sister in the suburbs. https://newworldbyzantine.com/george-... Overall, enjoyable, but not worth it unless you've run out of all Witold's other books or you're using it as a reference. And keep your internet device handy so you can look at pictures of the things he's describing.

[Kate T · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down

Some real fascinating stuff in here even though some of the essays are over 20 years old! I really enjoyed most of the essays on the different architecture topics, but didn’t enjoy the essays on contemporary architects as much. There is also a weird essay on urban renewal that I found not thought out enough.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know much about architecture, so most everything in this book was new and fascinating to me. It definitely makes me look at the world around me in a different light. Very enjoyable!

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

No pictures? 🥺

[Sarah Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essays about architecture- many of which I found interesting but my interest started to fizzle towards the end.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of essays covering a twenty year period. Some of the essays are dated, but all are well written and present ideas clearly and logically. I found the essays in parts one and two--the way we live today and our urban condition particularly interesting. The absence of photographs or drawings of the buildings the author discusses places a burden on the reader to either find them on-line or, if not, to miss the thrust of the argument. Also, when essays include many architectural terms, the lay leader spends a lot of time going to the dictionary. But these are minor faults, really. In my opinion, Mr. Rybczynski essays are their best when they critique the elitist city planning theories of architects. U.S.cities have paid heavily in human misery and in money for the untested urban renewal principles of the city planning aristocracy that proved a disaster when carreid out. The paraphrase a description of King James, the city planning elite were the wisest fools to ever design cities.

[G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took four years of architectural drawing in high school, but it just didn't get me or I didn't get it. My teacher was pretty much out of it the entire 4 years, so I put my time to good use, becoming one of the most proficient practical jokers in the class.

It took a while for me to get interested in it again, at least in an admirational way. I love the stories of the inspiration of architects, especially the world renowned giants like Wright, Pei, and Ghery. Rybczynski's book touches on these and a few others in his essays for various architectural magazines. He even gives me a few names to research on Pinterest. Excellent academic articles that make me wish I had been a more serious student and a less serious prankster.

There are few monuments to pranksters.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy Rybczynski's books, and although I prefer his full-length works, I enjoyed this one as a sampler on a wide range of subjects over a 20-year span. Yes, it can be argued that some of the essays are a bit dated (and some seem to me to have been written either while writing another book or shortly before or after, since some of the essays pick up the same subjects--Central Park, for example, or Palladio), but I find the shifts in thought interesting to follow. Well worth a read for anyone with an interest in our man-made environment.

[Du · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of essays from over the past twenty years or so. Rybcznski is a professor and his ability to teach others comes through very clearly in his text. He has a very informative and clear writing syle, which works to move the story along. A lot of these clearly were magazine articles, so they are written for a reader with a limited attention span. I liked the editorials at the end of most sections, where Rybcznski gives an updated opinion on the topic.

[JennLynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of well-written, architecturally related, essays. Some are dated, but there are brief follow-up paragraphs to shed additional light where necessary. For the non-architect more interested in the effect of architecture on people, as opposed to in-depth details of an architect's style, the earlier essays in the book will be most interesting. The later ones tended to be less so, especially for someone with little or no background in the field.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and wide-ranging essay collection; although some ideas are mentioned a couple of times, that's hard to avoid in a collection like this.

It seriously could have used some pictures, though. Unless you're up on the various exemplars of contemporary architecture, expect to spend some time image-googling the mentioned buildings.

[Cindy May]

An excellent compilation of essays about architecture. Though the essays are a bit dated now, the book still contains relevant information. I especially enjoyed the chapters about The Story King and A Good Public Building.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consistently interesting and insightful collection of essays about architecture. I particularly like Rybczynski's perspective on the suitability of architecture to its intended use, and his appreciation of folk architecture and every-day innovations like the food court.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting selection of essays. His comments afterwards regarding each essay show, in some cases, how his thinking has been changed by time or circumstances.