Shopping fun instead of frustration is what shopping-centers promise everywhere. Concentrated on many floors they lure with a diverse offer and seem familiar dueto branches in the entire world. Often they are the pulse of a whole neighborhood. In fact, light-flooded shopping centres promotethemselves as the heart of the neighborhood and for the „Riem Arcaden“ it seems to betrue. For in the district, which has been built in 1999, there's no stores and supermarkets apart from the Arcaden. Here the temple of consumption, which offers everything from electronics to fashion and interior design, plays the roleof the daily provider for an entire district.

The USA represent the example. Outside of Minneapolis they built the first shopping center – the „Mall of America“. Today about 43.000 shopping-malls mark the appearance of many American Cities. And since shopping is closely related to happiness, they grow consequently. In Germany there's 400 of those centers.

The recently finished shopping center "Mira" (March 2008) in Nordheide coins the entire settlement, similar to teh US Malls. With "Mira" the new district notonly gets a shopping centre, but its overdue district centre, its "missing urban centre" as put by mayor Ude. Beside 70 stores "Mira" hosts a "healthcentre", pharmacy and bank as well as restaurants and cafés, opened until late which should help to bring some life into the residential development. The colorful facade made of metal panels, seeming like a picture puzzle, is worth seeing. Depending on pedestrian's movement it changes colors and reflects the immediate surrounding.

IThe Perlacher Einkauf Passage, the PEP, comes up with a less spectacular design, but with a greater patch. Following the Tchibo-principle: "Diversity is it", PEP lures customers to shop and relax with over a 100 shops. They come from the South of Munich and other parts of the local vicinity. In addition, inexpensive and partly free parking as well as easy public transport maken the PEP attractive.

"There's always something to buy", the builder of Olympia-Einkaufzentrum (OEZ) in Moosach thought back in 1972. Theirs was the first of the Munich temples of consumption. Yet, today an adequate offer on two floors is notenough to fill centres like that with buyers. Therefore Shopping-Malls likeOEZ or PEP have become event centres – for fashion shows Modenschauen, car presentations or at exhibits. Where there's a lack of individuality, events provide the customer loyalty.

Following the trend to bring shopping centers back from the green meadows into the city, the architects Herzog & Meuron built the "5 Höfe". In the heart of Munich they created a gem of shopping. High class labels in luxury ambiance lure tons of solvent customers. Noble cafés and restaurants round off the unique shopping centre. A plus is close-by garage, for parking facilities support the shopping lust.

by Karin Nagl