Shopping centres are a fascinating and under-appreciated aspect of urban architecture, according to British journalist Art Anthony, who films himself walking around malls that have fallen on hard times.
Anthony is part of a sub-culture of YouTube creators making videos about shopping malls, mostly those that are either empty or in decline.
Having stumbled across the scene while looking for content to help him sleep, Anthony has now explored nearly 80 malls across the US and the UK on his channel Dead Mall Walking over the last four years.
Dying malls “can leave you feeling really uneasy”
The videos are shot from his own perspective as he slowly walks around the spaces, with his voiceover narration describing their history and current state.
The unusual hobby has seen him sneak into a theme-park-turned-megamall in Nashville, explore a 140,000-square-metre shopping centre with only one occupied storefront and evade security guards in Battersea Power Station’s new luxury retail precinct.
“I’ll freely admit that a lot of malls look the same,” Anthony told Dezeen.
“But every now and then you encounter these striking details that set them apart – huge fountains, leftover neon, vintage storefronts – which are all the more remarkable for their deviation from the standard formula,” he added.
“Take the Trafford Centre in Manchester – its halls are lined with real palm trees that were brought over from California, with a stint in Amsterdam to help them adjust to the European climate. But most people just walk right past them on their way to the next shop.”
Anthony argues that malls are a microcosm of British and American societies and that the significance of their waning popularity has not been fully recognised.
“These places once seemed like they were too big to fail, and now many of them are almost abandoned,” he said. “You have these vast, empty spaces that no longer serve a purpose, and that can leave you feeling really uneasy. There’s even a word for that phenomenon: kenopsia.”
“Anti-capitalists and online shoppers don’t care that they’re going away, but their decline is symptomatic of third places being eroded and lost,” he continued. “We’ll miss them when they’re gone.”
Below, Anthony has picked five favourite videos from his back catalogue for Dezeen:
Wonderland of the Americas, San Antonio, Texas
“This popular mall in San Antonio – I got a ton of angry comments for describing it as being on the outskirts, lesson learned! – plays host to all sorts of events, from UFO conventions and Halloween contests to anime events. Not to mention a regular market packed with authentic South American foods, ornaments, and clothing.
“Despite its outdated architecture and ongoing struggle to fill up empty units, you get the feeling that this place is held together by a combination of love and its tenants’ sheer force of will. I said in my video that its owners’ willingness to diversify could be a template for struggling malls all over the US, and I still stand by that statement.”
Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, London (now demolished)
“Even though I’d never visited it before, I knew this shopping centre was important to a lot of people in the community. I couldn’t pass up the chance to film its final couple of days and was pleased to run into a few other folks documenting it too.
“Watching tenants pack up their stores, many of whom publicly shared that they had nowhere else to go, was incredibly poignant. Judging from the comments on the video, I don’t get the impression that locals are all that optimistic about what will replace it.”
Jasper Mall, Jasper, Alabama
“In 2020, a pair of filmmakers produced a documentary – nominated for best documentary feature at Slamdance Film Festival that year – about this unassuming small town mall, which is maintained by a caretaker with a hybrid Australian/Alabama accent that has to be heard to be believed.
“I couldn’t resist revisiting when I was passing a couple of years later to see how the mall and its porter, Mike, a former big cat zoo owner (a la Tiger King), were doing. Spending a little time with him, it quickly became apparent that he has absolutely no idea how much of a minor celebrity he is in the dead mall space.”
Nashville Arcade, Nashville, Tennessee
“Just a couple of blocks away from the lights and country music of Broadway’s honkytonks sits Tennessee’s oldest mall, The Arcade. Or it did until a major (and ongoing) renovation project that kicked off in 2023 saw many of its tenants unceremoniously evicted without much notice.
“Built in 1902, and on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973, it was reportedly modelled after Milan’s grand Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele.
“I’m not so sure I see the resemblance. But I really enjoyed sauntering through crowds of office workers grabbing lunch at Manny’s House of Pizza and old-timers catching up outside The Peanut Shop, and the whole place had this ‘locals only’ vibe that made it feel like you were being let in on a secret just by visiting.”
Battersea Power Station, London
“Considering I keep a pretty close eye on the retail space, it took me way too long to find out that Battersea’s iconic power station had reopened as, of all things, a mall. And an extremely boujee one at that. Think Apple, Arc’teryx, Rolex, and Cartier – mostly out of my price range.
“I didn’t see as many shopping bags as I did people ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the high ceilings and flashy refurbishment, but it’s still early days for this place. Pretty difficult to stay under the radar while I was filming, since I counted at least five or six security guards milling around.”