VICE AU
Long gone are the days of strip malls and tiny shopping complexes where Bi-Lo, Trade Secret, and Toys ‘R’ Us encapsulated the peak Australian shopping experience. Shopping malls, once a place of communal gathering and generous spending, have now become a materialistic metropolis that encourages maximalist spending and indulging. As the demand for online shopping increases, shopping malls around the world are shutting. Malls that are trying to survive are transforming into grandiose adventure parks that invite shoppers into a world that can’t be granted through a computer screen.Victoria’s Chadstone Shopping Centre, Australia’s biggest shopping centre, and one of the biggest in the southern hemisphere, first opened its doors in 1960. Though small and unassuming at first, Chadstone has gone through several imposing structural and architectural changes to become the “fashion capital” of Australia. Garnering 23 million visitors each year, VICE’s Aleksandra Bliszczyk meets with friend and artist Mark Chu, to discuss the growth of their childhood shopping mall, and find what Chadstone Shopping Centre means to the social and cultural landscape of Melbourne today.