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Vista Ridge 1st P-CS 8910130 t1 a-- The northeasterly view of Vista Ridge shows a completed Sears and to the right, the JC Penney store still under construction. Lgwmv LL6 NLVWJM L. COMM J. ,,'The Grapevine Sun/Thursday, October 12, 1989 P51 Designs in modern mall capture traditional values By Ricky Te% Staff Writer/Lewisville ista Ridge Mall may be the newest suburban commercial development in North Texas, but promoting "new" was not the goal of the mall's architects. Barry Elbasani, a partner of the Berkeley, Calif., architectural firm of ELS- Elbasani & Logan Architects and principal in charge of designing Vista Ridge Mall, said the goal was for people to "rediscover the past" while they walk in the mall. "We think it will instill more traditional values. The mall walkways are streets; the courts are town squares," he said. "It gives the feeling like being in a town, where you can rediscover the past." Elbasani said Vista Ridge Mall is the first suburban mall ELS has designed. The firm has done shopping centers before, but none in a suburban area. "It's a suburban mall, but we spell it differently from other architects. We spell it subURBAN," he said. "We take suburban beyond how others spell it with all caps, SUBURBAN." Elbasani said Vista Ridge Mall's uniqueness as a suburban mall is reflected in all aspects of the mall, from the tile patterns, skylights and columns, which all add to a sense of discovery. "Other Texas malls you go into, like the Galleria, you look at it and that's it. When you see it all, there's no sense of discovery," he said. "Vista Ridge tries to go beyond that. "Great cities of the past had streets and public squares. Even the Oval Court in the mall is a classical form, a historical form, which can be rediscovered in a high - technological era." The mall contains court areas with skylight Designs From /8A The mall's unusual skyline, Elbasani said, is to attract people from Interstate 35E. "When you're on a freeway go- ing 60 mph, you see a long, silhouetted building. You see the skylights and you know something exciting is going on," he said. "Even the blue airport lights gives the feeling that the mall glows at night." Elbasani said if people enjoy the mall's atmosphere, they will come back again and again. "In the old days, people would see a shoe sale and get to a mall and leave in 30 minutes. Now they spend three to four hours," he said. "Now it's important to make a place that they enjoy. What is the experience going to be? If our's is better, they will come back." He said many people have said they like the way the mall is designed, even though they don't know quite why. "We've gotten many good com- ments back that people like the mall," Elbasani said, "but they're not quite sure why. I think it's the atmosphere. "And if they enjoy the mall and come back, then we've done our job." atriums and extensive landscaping. The biggest court is t Pa lm Court, which will contain about 25 The es skylights, made in New Jersey, are made of green tinted glass, which will help create natural lighting throughout the building. Two courts, the Rotunda and Hexagon, will feature marble and granite walls. The marble is imported from Italy, Portugal and other European countries. The colors in the mall — greens, grays and neutrals — were chosen, Elbasani said, to last a long time and to "unify" the mall stores. "We wanted to pick the right kind of colors not to be jarring. Neutral colors unify colors and work with the rest of them," he said. "Besides unifying space, the colors also put shops on display. Like a traditional street, you look at shop windows. Your eyes stop at the stores." See DESIGNS 110A Architecture rediscovers the past Dillard's north entrance.