‘Architectures of happiness’: Designing the Malltiplex in India

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper looks at the gendered architecture and industrial design of the most predominant fused space of urban entertainment in contemporary India: the mallitplex. Drawing upon fieldwork conducted in one of South Delhi’s most successful mega malls: Select City Walk, along with extensive interviews across several departments (design and interiors, security, business development, marketing, staff recruitment and training, food and beverage etc.) of India’s foremost multiplex chain, PVR Cinemas, this paper shows how gendered ‘safe’ space is industrially constructed, maintained and circulated in the public imagination. The ‘safety’ of the middle-class consuming woman is crucial to the industrial design of the mall and the multiplex, and its architecture is meant to regulate a specific kind of gendered behavior/code of conduct. Through an unpacking of the various elements of the industrial design of this mall and the multiplex, I argue that the space is entirely predicated upon the two age-old pillars of classed, caste-based, and gendered national anxiety in India: ‘security’ and ‘hygiene.’