Plaza del Sol
Plaza del Sol is one of the largest shopping malls in the urban area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, located in the municipality of Zapopan. Built at the end of the sixties by the architect Alejandro Zohn, it was the first mall in Latin america. It is the largest outdoor mall in the city, located next to the Plaza Milenium and future Torrena.
It is located a few blocks away from the Expo Guadalajara and the Guadalajara World Trade Center on one of the highest commercial areas of the city and rivals in importance with La Gran Plaza, Plaza Pabellón, Centro Magno and Galerías Guadalajara. Its tag line: “Plaza del Sol: todo” (“Plaza del Sol: everything”) is one of the most prominent branding mechanisms in Guadalajara today.
[edit] Description
As in the US, shopping malls have become the new social meeting points of the community. In Guadalajara, however, these are ‘charged’ with a particular use, that of the traditional plaza, which was not only a meeting place, but one that was an integral part of the social and urban layout, and of the surrounding world (the plaza would be visited in the evening, connecting the times/rhythms of pedestrians and nature at a moment of strong temporal transition: sunset). Of all the larger malls in the city today, Plaza del Sol (appropriately named ‘Plaza of the Sun’) is the only one to maintain the layout of an ‘open-air mall’, while all the others, newer, are based on the typology of the ‘enclosed mall with anchor stores’. Unlike the newer, shinier malls, Plaza del Sol also maintains a strong connection to its surrounding neighborhood, Ciudad del Sol (which was built around the mall). The strong connection to the adjacent community happens through a grand gateway to the west (where the surrounding parking field is reduced to a narrow thoroughfare) and delineated crosswalks with stoplights allow for crossing López Mateos Avenue. This initial connection to the community has allowed for a dynamic commercial life as well along López Mateos Avenue, including the Presidente Intercontinental Hotel, one of the largest in the city.
The mall is divided into 13 zones, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, O, P, R and Z. each area has different types of shops, the twists that are offered by the mall, in general, are: clothing stores, financial services, soda fountains, coffee shops, electronics stores, stationery, pharmacy, betting, among others. The mall sprawls like a park, with 270 commercial spaces, outdoor patios, trees and garden areas, and parking for 2100 cars. [2010]
It has a large capacity parking and open space to relax.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Coordinates: 20°39′5.84″N 103°24′0.89″W / 20.6516222°N 103.4002472°W
