Horton Plaza Mall - From Architectural Icon to Dead Mall | All Things Architecture Series

In 1985, architect Jon Jerde designed a new kind of shopping mall-a mall that encouraged exploration by making visitors wander through a postmodernist labyrinth. It would help bring people back to an aging Downtown San Diego. It would revitalize the city and make architecture an attraction. All that success would slowly fade away as the mall became a dead mall before being revitalized as a modern tech campus.
I'd like to give a huge thanks to Erik from ‪@RetailArchaeology‬ for allowing us to use some of his fantastic footage in our video.
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Written, narrated, and edited by Steve Park
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[@juanach4948]

Grew up in SD and had so many memories of shopping with my mom when the mervyns was there. When I got older I actually worked there for 10 yrs and my favorite was how it was decorated during the holiday season including the ice rink. When I saw Nordstrom leave I knew it was a sign of the mall closing for good. It was a ghost town after that and the parking and layout wasn’t any help. Watching this brought back memories.

[@RemoWilliams1227]

Thank you for sharing this with us

[@daniellizarraga3897]

I worked at Abercrombie 😢

[@sergpie]

Sam Goody’s was a literal hangout for me from 2004-2006. Sometimes, I’d meet people and then we’d head over to Mediterranean Cafe for hookah, and pass by that one burly dude that wore a Mexican luchador mask on 5th and Broadway, he’d be there every night, rain or shine. Downtown was always kind of crusty and weird, but it was buzzing back then, so much ruckus and activity. It’s all dead, corporate, or derelict nowadays, with no spirit.

[@mtroy0620]

I loved living downtown San Diego late 90's. Loved it.

[@eddievillalpando1839]

That mall was childhood for me 🥲 so many memories running around getting lost I loved it !

[@AllThingsArchitecture]

I completely agree. I really love reading everyone’s memories of this place. It shows the importance and the power of architecture. All buildings should do what Horton Plaza managed to do in creating lasting memories.

[@corvusheller328]

There and Tysons Corner were my 2 favorite malls

[@marc82much]

I met a girl that worked at Gary's Tuck Shop, there. Been married 36 years, now.

[@aegisofhonor]

I was there in January 1997 during it's heyday, what a fantastically designed outdoor mall that was a real joy to walk through. I watched Mars Attacks at the cinema and all around was a ton of fun walking through there.

[@user-nu4rw6gx2f]

DITTO @aegisofhonor🇺🇲

[@elizabethpeterson455]

This was my favorite place to go in San Diego and I am heartbroken to return and find it gutted. I was visiting there last month and it looked horrible as well as the rest of downtown. How criminal to destroy this incredibly beautiful mall.

[@isabelpontes2313]

This mall brings childhood memories! We would come here with my mom all the time. The Hello Kitty store was my favorite!

[@rickywalker3154]

I used to go there every so often during the late 1990's while stationed in the Navy. I visited this and Seaport Village the most during that time of my life.

[@AllThingsArchitecture]

What was it like then? Did people still seem interesting in the architecture or had the novelty worn off by then? Seaport Village is a great place to walk around too. It has an interesting history too. It'll be sad when they tear Seaport Village down.

[@m.alexanderzagorski2438]

Ricky,your MESSAGE SUMS IT UP, Sir! I have fond memories!

[@albertoestrada1382]

I really liked that mall and I really miss it

[@annafarr582]

I remember there was a new years private party in 1988, I just watched from above as the people danced, it was a nice mall back then.

[@MG-jv7pe]

Spent so much time here in my youth! For older people like myself, Top Gun and Horton Plaza kinda go hand in hand with memories of the 80s-early 90 to mid 90s. How many of us got lost in the parking lot hahaha did you park on pineapple or tomato?

[@enriquebarrera2749]

This was my childhood. I used to spend a lot of time there 😢

[@AllThingsArchitecture]

I remember visiting this mall when I was a kid too, and seeing the funky architecture really stuck with me. Even in its dying years, I would walk around and be fascinated by its uniqueness.

[@IsThisTheHill]

As a local from San Diego’s east county this was our favorite pre holiday shopping trip location. When Westfield took over and they started charging more for parking, that’s when they lost the east county locals (used to be free 3 hrs if you bought something, changed to charge for parking no matter what-not smart when every other local area mall has free parking) I like the look of the new plans. I’m excited to see it finished

[@AllThingsArchitecture]

Parking fees definitely brought Horton Plaza further down. Urban shopping malls that charge a lot for parking always ends up backfiring (no pun intended), especially when the mall’s on the downturn.

[@JMCodd1]

They had to implement the parking fees, to discourage people working and shopping in the nearby Gaslamp District from hogging up the space designated for the mall. I used to work in the garage, started the year that the mall implemented the validation system. When I started, the parking was 3 hours free (automatically, no purchase needed) and $1 an hour after that. Many employees in the Gaslamp District would park in the garage for the free period, then return to their cars, exit the garage and re-enter to park for another 3 hours free. Before the validation system started (sometime mid-summer ‘89), the garage had to close almost 200 times midday due to no spaces available. If I remember correctly, at the time, the garage had over 2,200 space capacity.

[@IsThisTheHill]

@@JMCodd1 Interesting but it also did have the effect of discouraging east county folks from coming. There also used to be some sort of arrangement with the Lyceum. I used to be able to park in the Horton parking garage and get my parking validated with my theater ticket and they stopped doing that at as well

[@JMCodd1]

@@IsThisTheHill oh, I agree. I remember both theaters had a 4-hour validation, while the shops and restaurants had 3-hours, with a purchase. This was back when the Hahn Co. was still managing. After Westfield took over, the hourly charges increased dramatically, and the validations scaled back to be just during the mall hours. I think the validation time also reduced as the closing time neared. (I.e. an hour before closing, validation only good for 2-hour, not 3.)

[@strallent]

I have lots of good memories in that mall, but it was aging already. I worked at the Macy's store in the mall when I was young., it was a fun experience. I'm glad they have decided to redesign the entire place to something modern. I can't wait for Campus at Horton to be finished! It will be the new destination of us residents and tourists here in downtown SD. Great video...thank you!

[@48mastadon]

So sad. The mall was surreal. So iconic. What's ever there now will never be as awesome as Horton Plaza Mall was.

[@medavog]

STEVE, EPIC INFO! LOVE SEEING IT BEFORE IT WAS HORTON PLAZA, I THINK A VIDEO OF THE OLD ARQUITECTURE DEMOLISH WOULD BE EXTREME INTERESTING TO MANY OF US. I WAS 14 DAYS PAST THE OPENING OF HORTON PLAZA I DITCH SCHOOL, LATER WHEN I WAS 16 I WORKED AT THE GALAXY DINER ON TOP FLOOR - I REMEMBER A HEAT WAVE, IN 1987 I BECAME AN ASSISTANT TO A MANAGER AT NORDSTROMS CAFE, I CAN TELL YOU STORIES FOR DECADES!

[@mitchyoung93]

Went to Navy boot camp in SD in 1993...first thing we did on our 'liberty weekend' at the almost end of training was to go to Horton Plaza, find the targets (at the top IIRC) and buy some unauthorized civvies.

[@odommcallister9351]

Curious, What CO were you. I have the same exact memory, I also graduated in 93, I was co 184.

[@melissasalasblair5273]

Thank you ❣️🌌

[@demoness2005]

I loved going to this mall. It was the first thing that sparked my interest in San Diego, when I was stationed there in 1997. It was a fun place to go. No matter how many times I went there, I would still take the wrong walkway at some point if I had a specific destination in mind, but it didn't bother me. That was part of the fun of going there.

[@user-nu4rw6gx2f]

Horton Plaza was my primary haunt while stationed in the US Navy from '97-'01 and '03-'05 in San Diego, California.🇺🇲

[@Bapakgila]

Hard to believe since this was the hot spot of SD forever. Like many, I live blocks away and would visit on a daily basis. However, Susan makes a great point about all the little charges such as parking albeit it was downtown so your only other option was parking meters. No, I will miss this mall and seeing all the people walking around.

[@rocknroma]

love this! always enjoyed architecture and Horton Plaza is pure nostalgia for me. AND MY HEART FILLED WITH JOY at 1:01, when i saw my grandparents' restaurant on the corner of 5th & market AND my grandfather's buick (on the right) parked right next to it... he had that buick til mid-80s and then traded it in for the newest version of the same model lol - he never traded in for anything but a buick. miss my gramps... also sad to know the mall died. when i think back to my time in SD, first thoughts are of HP and how wonderfully Escher-esque it was🥹

[@malcorub]

15:50 I used to sit at these tables to eat food from the food court. I always liked how the office towers on B Street looked like they were part of Horton Plaza from this vantage point, even though they were several blocks away.

[@OlimpiaFonseca]

It was definitely an experience

[@OlimpiaFonseca]

Makes me sad 😢 this was definitely part of my childhood I remember the first time I went there ❤ to Planet Hollywood too.

[@befuddled2010]

I have lived in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego since 1998 (about 2 miles from downtown where Horton Plaza is located), but my first visit to downtown SD was in 1986 while passing through from LA on my first trip to Tijuana. All I remember from passing this development down Broadway back then at 8:30 am on a Saturday morning was all the hookers and homeless milling around. All of us in the car were very demoralized at the time, but our ultimate destination in Tijuana would correct that impression most emphatically. At any rate, it is amazing to see the spin of how the opening of this mall back in the day was received pitted against my experience of the area at about the same time. Starting in 2001 I actually worked at a national retailer that had a location at Fourth and J St. for several decades a few blocks south of Horton Plaza, so I know the area well. Obviously the impression I got in '86 didn't stop me from making San Diego my home 2 years later, and I have had no regrets even counting our current challenges with homelessness. Thank you for featuring this project on your channel. I enjoyed learning the history of its design, designers, and developers very much!

[@okcoreyyy]

Hung out there with a bunch of comic artists during San Diego Comic Con 2002, saw Elijah Wood hanging out by the theater, right next to a poster of himself for the new LotR movie! Will forever have fond memories of the place :)

[@HonorXPrinciple]

I lost a beautiful class ring at this mall. Yuma criminals class of 08.

[@videomaniac108]

My wife and I moved to San Diego shortly after the mall opened and it became a most enjoyable place in which to visit and shop. After Westfield took over, we noticed troubling changes that made it a less desireable place to visit. I noticed that the structure was not being maintained to the same standard of repair and cleanliness as before. One of the biggest contributing factors in the mall's decline, in my view, was the change in the parking policies, becomming more restrictive and more expensive. We felt very uncomfortable in trying to shop there and constantly worrying about getting out before the free time limit was up and we would be faced with huge parking fees. We just decided after that to go to other San Diego malls, like Fashion Valley and UTC near La Jolla. The city should have partially susidized the parking for the property owner, so that the original parking policy could be maintained. With the severe shortage of affordable parking in the downtown area, the parking lot at Horton Plaza greatly benefitted all of the local businesses and thus it was in the interest of the city to maintain that structure for the public benefit. The city leaders and the mall owner forgot one of the main reasons for why Horton Plaza was built, to lead the redevelopment of the downtown city area into a viable and prosperous place. It seemed to me that it was a combination of greed, incompetence and lack of imagination that were the core maladies afflicting the city and property owner management officials that doomed Horton Plaza.

[@huejaynus3134]

Would go here alot in the early 2000s

[@nadogrl]

Thank you!😢😢😢

[@malcorub]

I think this is the only mall in SD County that faltered. Parkway Plaza, Grossmont, North County Fair, Plaza Bonito, Fashion Valley and Mission Valley seem to be doing ok as far as malls go.

[@robferris3462]

I worked at The Broadway Store in Horton Plaza from 1986 until it closed. I always made it a point to park in the exact same spot, so I could find my car when I got off work...LOL Still I would end up driving co workers around looking for their cars

[@jvargas6034]

4:37 Is That A Concept For Montclair Plaza/Place In SoCal In This Video From A Concept Art Of When They Added Their Second Level In 1985

[@AllThingsArchitecture]

No, the drawing was from an early concept for the mall back when it was going to be a more traditional mall. That being said, Montclair Plaza and Horton Plaza were both developed by Ernie Hahn.

[@haveaniceday23]

I learned some things about the very city I have resided in for years. I use to shop there and get lost and couldn't find my car. I was totally oblivious and thought it was me and my ADHD 🤣

[@seanuminski]

I went to visit a friend of mine that was studying in an architecture school in San Diego a few years back. He never mentioned Horton plaza. But we did go to a stand that sold cookies though. Had pretty good cookies.

[@Nirvezz]

I started visiting often after the Horton Plaza park. A lot of security and homeless arguments. Homeless were driven out for being an eye sore for washing their butts on the fountain. Security ended up locking the place too tight that no one would feel welcomed there. There were rumors of calling it a haunted or cursed mall. A handful of people made their way to the top floor by the movie theatre, some climbed to the top and dove down to the ground by the underground theatre. I had great memories of people watching. From taking picture of the architecture to most being frustrated over navigating their way around. I had helped a lot of frustrated people find their way around. I had met a woman once who claimed to be lost for half an hour and no worker in the third floor helped at all.

[@roberthaugen9871]

I wonder if "they" anticipated the computer "shopping" trend and decided to get out ahead of time. I'm wondering about the plandemic, too. What did "they" know, if anything. I saw the first "Batman" movie at Horton Plaza and loved going there just to wander around. Horton Plaza, like the trolley, represented everything I considered good about San Diego and her people. One time, there was a homeless lady with her belongings sitting at the entrance. She wasn't in any way intrusive and I sat down and had a nice talk with her. She turned out to be a very eloquent woman who was definitely not on drugs or alcohol. She was older than me by far, but not "elderly." I occasionally think of her and pray for her well being. I hope she overcame whatever obstacles were in her path.

[@MrBoomBoom225]

Sad, although I must admit it was a pain in the ass getting around this mall.

[@burdrchitect1680]

I got chance to visit this mall and thought it was beautiful architecturally. I was surprised at how dead it was too.

[@AllThingsArchitecture]

Yeah its decline seemed to happen overnight. I remember as a kid the mall was still popular, but by the time I was in college ten years later it was dead.

[@MrStarofTruth]

wow i remember shopping at that mall in 1988 and when i went to San Diego in 1995 it was mostly a homeless encampment and i was shocked.. now from this video i know what happened to that mall...

[@AlanGonzalez-rw9xm]

i like how you whisper sweet nothings into my left ear

[@kamikazitsunami]

Horton plaza attracted a lot of dangerous and criminal people. I was carjacked and beaten leaving that mall by someone who saw me there. The architecture was definitely unique but I don't have the fondest memories of that place. Plus I was one of the people who did get lost trying to find my car more than once.

[@camarocarl7130]

The homeless would take over at 5pm as the few stores left would close. Next morning shoppers were greeted by sleeping bums, smells of urine and feces. Kiss of death when bums move in to your city. I hope SD recovers.

[@DefensisIndus]

San Diego feels more like Mediterranean ⛪ nothing at all like LA, his vision fit the city. San Diego should keep building more like Mediterranean against the hills... Too bad we've used so much room building huge, bland suburbs with nothing to do in them 😕👎 They've created so much traffic and used so much land

[@Squeakypickles619]

There was absolutely no need to have gotten rid of it The whole mall along with the nbc building the ice skating ring and the atmosphere especially during the holidays it was a magical landmark now san diego looks like gotham with tweakers and lame brewerys and crappy architecture with no life The future sucks.

[@jonw999999]

Too bad that redevelopment is awful, typical hideous bland contemporary architecture with sterile white boxes

[@sherice1730]

Just as confusing as shopping inside of ikea