W
hat is the difference between
a square and a mall? We exalt the former,
and increasingly, some of us disparage the
latter, accepting and using it, however, as a
necessary evil.
The difference is not that one is outdoors,
the other in, for there are older, enclosed
markets even in the sped-up cities of the
United States that express, still, tradition,
charm and character. The difference is
architecture and, of course, material. Many
malls have a prefabricated look; they are
flimsy confections of glass, sheetrock
and plastic, obsolete almost before they
are finished, some of them "dead" after a
decade or so.
Another distinguishing element of a square
is the presence of a central monument,
such as a statue or fountain. And, in
America and elsewhere, a town square is
typically bordered by certain buildings with
important civic functions—the town hall or
the courthouse, for example. So a square
is not just a place for consumption, but for
decisions, public ones, that affect the lives
of those buying bread, cheese or wine.
