Victor Gruen and the Construction of Cold War Utopias

Journal of Planning History

Volumn 3, Issue 2, 2004, Pages 116-150

  Mennel, Timothy ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA   (United States)

Author keywords

cold war; competition; Southdale; utopian planning; Victor Gruen

Indexed keywords

EID: 84993709363     PISSN: 15385132     EISSN: 15526585     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1538513204264755     Document Type: Article

References (127)

1. Air conditioning started on eleventh floor. 1950. Dayton News (employee newsletter), May 20: 5. Copy in MHS.
2. Americanism. 1953. Suburban Press, May 14: 6-6.
3. Appendix 2. 1953. April 1. In Southdale Original Materials folder, EHS.
4. Architecture—not style. 1948. Progressive Architecture, December: 49-49, 120-120, 122-122, 138-138.
5. Baker, G., and B. Funaro. 1951. Shopping centers: Design and operation. New York: Reinhold.
6. Baxandall, R., and E. Ewen. 2000. Picture windows: How the suburbs happened. New York: Basic Books.
7. Benjamin, W. 1978. Paris, capital of the nineteenth century. In Reflections: Essays, aphorisms, autobiographical writings, ed. P. Demetz, trans. E. Jephcott. New York: Schocken.
8. Benjamin, W. 1999. The arcades project. Ed. Rolf Tiedemann, trans. Howard Eiland and Kevin McLaughlin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
9. The big ideas in the big new shopping centers. 1953. Architectural Forum, May: 125-125.
10. Biographical data. N.d. In VGP, box 3, folder Biographical Information, Victor Gruen, 1903-1980.
11. Boyer, P. 1985. By the bomb’s early light: American thought and culture at the dawn of the atomic age. New York: Pantheon.
12. Brinkley, A. 2001. The illusion of unity in cold war culture. In Rethinking cold-war culture, eds. P. J. Kuznick and J. Gilbert. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
13. Buck-Morss, S. 2000. Dreamworld and catastrophe: The passing of mass utopia in East and West. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
14. Citizens, council approve Southdale Center for Edina. 1952. Edina-Morningside Courier, July 10: 1-1.
15. Cleland, J. 1952. Dayton plan stuns Edina: Southdale shopping center to be $10 million venture. Edina-Morningside Courier, June 19: 19; microfilm at Hennepin County Library, Southdale branch, Edina, MN.
16. Cleland, J., and E. Chamberlain. 1952. Southdale shopping center? Here’s what they say. Edina-Morningside Courier, June 19: 22-22.
17. Cohen, L. 2003. A consumers’ republic: The politics of mass consumption in postwar America. New York: Knopf.
18. Contini, E. 1951. Additional notes concerning the engineered characteristics of the J. L. Hudson Eastland Center. Appended to Gruen (1951d), in VGP, box 23.
19. Country Club Market, Phillips Appliance, Witt’s (a butcher), and Northern States Power advertisement. 1952. Edina-Morningside Courier, June 19: 9.
20. Cox, F. E. 1951. Your city’s tomorrow. Westward, July: 8-9.
21. Crawford, M. 1992. In Variations on a theme park: The new American city and the end of public space, ed. M. Sorkin. New York: Hill and Wang.
22. Crear, W. C., Jr. 1956. June in January. The Minnesota Engineer, May: 4-4.
23. Dayton, D. C. 1952. Memo to all employees, June 17. In folder 56.85.40.001, MFA.
24. Dayton’s, Donaldson’s join to build county’ [sic] largest shopping center. 1953. Suburban Press, October 29: 1-1.
25. Debord, G. [1970] 1994. The society of the spectacle. New York: Zone Books.
26. Department store of tomorrow: Milliron’s emporium could be the model. 1949. Interiors, October. Copy in VGP, Box 11.
27. Development of Southdale and surrounding area. N.d. Southdale Center, media information. In folder 56.85.50.001, MFA.
28. Donaldson, S. 1956. A (metal) tree grows in Southdale. Minneapolis Star, August 27: 11A-11A.
29. Donaldson’s and Dayton’s merge shopping centers in $15,000,000 Southdale project. 1953. Minneapolis Tribune, October 25.
30. Douglas, J. B. 1959. Shopping center revolution, evolution and trends. Urban Land 18, no. 10.
31. Dynamic planning for retail areas. 1954. Harvard Business Review 32, no. 6: 53-62.
32. Employment Department, notice to all Southdale personnel. 1956. August. In folder 56.85.40.001, MFA.
33. Ends and beginnings. 1950. Stores, July: 40-2. Copy in VGP, box 22.
34. Etnier, R. J. 1956. Natural gas operates world’s largest heat pump. Minneapolis Gas Company Suburban Division, November. Copy in MHS.
35. Farish, M. 2003. Disaster and decentralization: American cities and the cold war. Cultural Geographies, April: 125-148.
36. Filene, P. 2001. “Cold war culture” doesn’t say it all. In Rethinking cold-war culture, eds. P. J. Kuznick and J. Gilbert. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
37. Fishman, R. 1987. Bourgeois utopias: The rise and fall of suburbia. New York: Basic Books.
38. Future on file. 1953. Transcript from WEVD radio, February 26. In VGP, box 42, binder Victor Gruen: Collected Writings: Speeches, 1943-1954, vol. 1, no. 10.
39. Gillette, H., Jr. 1985. The evolution of the planned shopping center in suburb and city. American Planning Association Journal, autumn: 449-460.
40. Goodman, Paul, and Percival Goodman. 1960. Communitas: Means of livelihood and ways of life. 2nd ed. New York: Vintage.
41. Gray, J. 1962. You can get it at Dayton’s. Minneapolis, MN: privately published.
42. Grosz, E. 2002. The times of architecture. In Embodied utopias: Gender, social change, and the modern metropolis, eds., A. Bingaman, L. Sanders, and R. Zorach. New York: Routledge.
43. Gruen, V. 1950a. Letter to the state of Michigan. July 25. In VGP, box 4, folder Architects Registration Michigan Gruen.
44. Gruen, V. 1950b. Upjohn Village: A complete community development. Copy in VGP, box 11.
45. Gruen. V. 1951a. Circular store for traffic flow. Chain Store Age, July. Copy in VGP, Box 22.
46. Gruen, V. 1951b. Defense on the periphery. Speech to the convention of the American Institute of Architects, Chicago, May 8. Typescript in VGP, Box 42, binder Victor Gruen: Collected Writings: Speeches, 1943-1954, vol. 1, no. 6.
47. Gruen, V. 1951c. Notes for a Regional Conference on the Effect of Current War Conditions on Real Estate Market and Valuation Problems. April. In VGP, box 27, folder Speeches: Associated Merchandising Corp., N.Y.
48. Gruen, V. 1951d. Regional shopping centers and civilian defense: A memorandum with special reference to the Eastland Shopping Center in Detroit. In VGP, Box 23.
49. Gruen, V. 1955a. Boston Conference on Distribution. Speech, October 18. In VGP, box 42, binder Victor Gruen: Collected Writings: Speeches, 1955, 1956, vol. 2, no. 22.
50. Gruen, V. 1955b. Cityscape and landscape. Lecture subsequently published in Arts and Architecture, September: 18-19, 36-37. (Reprinted in Architecture culture, 1943-1968: A documentary anthology, ed. J. Ockham, New York: Rizzoli and the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, 1993)
51. Gruen, V. 1955c. Urban Renewal. Speech given to the Lambda Alpha University Club (a Los Angeles professional association), July 21. In VGP, box 44, folder Professional Files Planning.
52. Gruen, V. 1964a. The heart of our cities: The urban crisis. Diagnosis and cure. New York: Simon & Schuster.
53. Gruen, V. 1964b. Russian report. In VGP, Box 4, folder Subject Files: Trip behind the Iron Curtain.
54. Gruen, V. 1967[?]. Listing of projects. In VGP, Box 23.
55. Gruen, V. 1972. Downfall and rebirth of city cores on both sides of the Atlantic. Ed. Mrs. Allen E. Susman. Los Angeles: Victor Gruen Foundation for Environmental Planning.
56. Gruen, V. 1973. Centers for the urban environment: Survival of the cities. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
57. Gruen, V. N.d. Shopping centers in the U.S.A. In VGP, box 23.
58. Gruen, V., and L. Smith. 1960. Shopping towns USA: The planning of shopping centers. New York: Reinhold.
59. Gruenbaum, V., and E. Krummeck. 1943a. Letter to Ruth Goodhue. Architectural Forum, February 16. In VGP, box 54.
60. Gruenbaum, V. 1943b. Letter to Ruth Goodhue. Architectural Forum, February 26. In VGP, box 54.
61. Gruenbaum, V. 1943c. Shopping center. Architectural Forum, May. Copy in VGP, box 23.
62. Gruenbaum, V. N.d. A report concerning store design in the year 2000. VGP, box 44, folder Reports.
63. Guzzardi, W., Jr. 1962. An architect of environments. Fortune, January. Copy in VGP, box 46.
64. Haber, J. 1966. Victor Gruen: Architect, dreamer and doer. Los Angeles Times [Magazine?], September 18: 8. Copy in VGP, box 43, folder Sep.18,66 L.A. Times Victor Gruen Architect Dreamer and Doer.
65. Haimbach, D. 1965. The Fresno mall. The American City, April: 91-93.
66. Hardesty, J. J. 1983. Illusions of endless affluence. In The utopian vision: Seven essays on the quincentennial of Sir Thomas More, ed. E. D. S. Sullivan. San Diego, CA: San Diego State University Press.
67. Hardwick, M. J. 2004. Mall maker: Victor Gruen, architect of an American dream. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
68. Hesterman, P. D. [1988] 1993. The history of Edina, Minnesota: From settlement to suburb. Edina, MN: Burgess.
69. Hirsch, A. [1983] 1998. Making the second ghetto: Race and housing in Chicago, 1940-1960. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
70. How to get a shopping-center site for nothing. 1953. Architectural Forum, March: 132-132.
71. Husted, E. 1952. Specific application the government program [sic], In Building in the Atomic Age., proceedings of a conference sponsored by the Department of Civil and Sanitary Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, June 16-17.
72. Informal opening of giant new Southdale shopping center today. 1956. Edina-Morningside Courier, October 4: 1-1.
73. Inskip, L. 1956. Planning is now under way for larger “Southdale of the future.” Minneapolis Tribune, October 7. Copy in EHS, Southdale box, folder Effect on the Community of Edina.
74. Isenstadt, S. 2000. Richard Neutra and the psychology of architectural consumption. In Anxious modernisms: Experimentation in postwar architectural culture, eds. S. W. Goldhagen and R. Legault. Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture.
75. Johnson, B. G., with R. C. Byce, L. S. Hu, C. Muktabhant, and H. H. Tung. 1952. Steel frames for industrial buildings. In Building in the Atomic Age, proceedings of a conference sponsored by the Department of Civil and Sanitary Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, June 16-17.
76. July heat for January shoppers. 1957. Business Week, January 26: 27-28.
77. Kelly, B. 1952. The necessity for dispersion. In Building in the Atomic Age, proceedings of a conference sponsored by the Department of Civil and Sanitary Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, June 16-17.
78. Lapp, R. E. 1949. Must we hide? Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.
79. Levett, S. 1967. Letter to the editor. Engineering News Record, December 8. Copy in VGP, box 52, folder Biographical Information 1968; folder Engineering New [sic] Record Award.
80. Levin, E. A. 1984. City planning as utopian ideology and city government function. University of Winnipeg, Institute of Urban Studies Research and Working Papers no. 10. Winnipeg, Canada: University of Winnipeg.
81. Markham, J. L. 1952. Suburbia welcomes Dayton’s. Hennepin County Review, June 26: 26; also in Edina-Morningside Courier, July 3: 2-2.
82. May, E. T. 1999. Homeward bound: American families in the cold war era. Rev. ed. New York: Basic Books.
83. May, L., ed. 1989. Recasting America: Culture and politics in the age of the cold war. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
84. McClay, W. M. 1994. The masterless: Self and society in modern America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
85. McKeever, J. R. 1957. Shopping centers re-studied: Emerging patterns and practical experiences. Urban Land Institute Technical Bulletin no. 30, parts 1 and 2. Washington, DC: Urban Land Institute.
86. Meier, P. 1981. The shopping center that spawned a community. Mpls. St. Paul 9, no. 8.
87. Monson, D., and A. Monson. 1951. How can we disperse our large cities? Part II. The American City, January.
88. Morse-Kahn, D. 1988. Edina: Chapters in the city history. Edina, MN: City of Edina.
89. Mrs. Edina, this is how Southdale will serve you. 1952. Edina-Morningside Courier, June 26: 3-3.
90. Mumford, L. 1966. Utopia, the city and the machine. In Utopias and utopian thought, ed. F. E. Manuel. Boston: Beacon.
91. Negroes find few homes in suburbs. 1953. Suburban Press (Hopkins, MN), May 14: 12-12.
92. New shopping center to make its own weather. 1952. Minneapolis News (southwest ed.), June 20: 1. Copy in MHS.
93. Oppermann, P. 1951. Letter to the editor. The American City, January: 7-7.
94. Peck, B. [1900] 1971. The world a department store. Illus. Harry C. Wilkinson, ed. Arthur Orcutt Lewis Jr. New York: Arno Press and New York Times.
95. Peirce, N. R. 1978. The shopping center and one man’s shame. Los Angeles Times, October 22. Syndicated under a variety of titles. Copies in VGP, box 47, folder G79a 10-22-78.
96. Photo caption. 1952. Edina-Morningside Courier, June 19: 17-17.
97. Plan for “city of tomorrow” outlined to civic leaders. 1956. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, March 11. Cited in VGP, box 3, folder Subject Files: Index to Articles Written by Victor Gruen.
98. Porter, P. W., and F. E. Lukermann. 1976. The geography of utopia. In Geographies of the mind: Essays in historical geosophy, eds. D. Lowenthal and M. J. Bowden. New York: Oxford University Press.
99. Saarnio, R. 1991. Southdale regional shopping center: Real estate and zoning in retail and neighborhood planning of the 1950’s. Spring. Typed manuscript, copy in EHS.
100. Schorske, C. E. 1980. Fin-de-siècle Vienna: Politics and culture. New York: Knopf.
101. Segal, H. P. 1986. The technological utopians. In Imagining tomorrow: History, technology, and the American future, ed. J. J. Corn. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
102. Shklar, J. 1966. The political theory of utopia: From melancholy to nostalgia. In Utopias and utopian thought, ed. F. E. Manuel. Boston: Beacon.
103. Shopping centers of tomorrow at Walker Center. 1954. Edina-Morningside Courier, March 18: 11-11.
104. Sibley, M. Q. 1971. Technology and utopian thought. Minneapolis, MN: Burgess.
105. Skinner, B. F. 1948. Walden two. New York: Macmillan.
106. Smith, S. B. 1952. General reaction of buildings to atomic blast. In Building in the Atomic Age, proceedings of a conference sponsored by the Department of Civil and Sanitary Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, June 16-17.
107. Soderlind, S. 1954. Architect says Southdale planned as “cultural center” for its patrons. Minneapolis Tribune, March 14.
108. Southdale leasing to begin in March. 1954. Edina-Morningside Courier, February 11: 1-1.
109. Southdale to use enough electricity for small city. 1956. Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, October 7.
110. Stedman, G. H. 1955. The rise of shopping centers. Journal of Retailing, Spring: 13-13.
111. Stonorov, O., and L. I. Kahn. 1944. You and your neighborhood. New York: Revere Copper and Brass.
112. Talk of the town. 1956. The New Yorker, March 17.
113. Tillich, P. 1966. Critique and justification of utopia. In Utopias and utopian thought, ed. F. E. Manuel. Boston: Beacon.
114. Ueland, B. 1953. Minnesota eyewitness. Suburban Press, January 8: 5-5, 11-11.
115. Unseen eyes detect danger of Southdale fires and burglars. 1956. Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, October 7: 14-14.
116. Vanderbilt, T. 2002. Survival city: Adventures among the ruins of atomic America. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
117. Victor Gruen and Associates. 1953-1956. Southdale Shopping Center development plans. Five rolls in three plan boxes, in MHS.
118. Victor Gruen and Associates. 1955a. Design conference, “1976,” July 23. In VGP, box 15, folder “1976” Design Conference, July 23, 1955.
119. Victor Gruen and Associates. 1955b. “1976” Design conference. July 30. In VGP, box 15, folder “1976” Design Conference, July 23, 1955.
120. Victor Gruen and Associates. 1955c. “1976”: The philosophical basis. August 5. In VGP, box 15, folder “1976” Design Conference, July 23, 1955.
121. Victor Gruen Associates (Victor Gruen, R. L. Baumfeld, Karl O. Van Leuven Jr., Edgardo Contini). 1954[?]. Shopping centers of tomorrow: An architectural exhibition. Introduction by Burton Cumming. Catalog of an exhibition circulated by the American Federation of Arts.
122. Wells, H. G. [1902] 1976. The probable diffusion of great cities. In Anticipations of the reaction of mechanical and scientific progress upon human life and thought. Ann Arbor: Xerox UMI, facsimile of original.
123. Wendt, G., and D. P. Geddes, eds. 1945. The atomic age opens. Cleveland: World.
124. Wharton, A. J. 2001. Building the cold war: Hilton international hotels and modern architecture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
125. Wilbur, J. B. 1952. Building in the atomic age: Closing summary. In Building in the Atomic Age, proceedings of a conference sponsored by the Department of Civil and Sanitary Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, June 16-17.
126. Wilson, E. 2002. Against utopia: The romance of indeterminate spaces. In Embodied utopias: Gender, social change, and the modern metropolis, eds., A. Bingaman, L. Sanders, and R. Zorach. New York: Routledge.
127. Winter or summer. 1953. Architectural Forum, March.