Americana at Brand
© Lauren GreenfieldOpening cash registers and unfurling welcome mats in May 2008, the Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA is a mixed-use urban design experiment that blends consumerism, aspiration, and lifestyle by making it possible to live at the mall.
Concentrated within a 15.5 acre footprint, upscale shops and restaurants are integrated with luxury apartments, condominium towers, a trolley, and a two-acre central green with a fountain spouting bi-hourly Vegas-style water and light shows. An enormous baroque chandelier hangs adjacent in open air, confirming the alternative reality of the town square-esque space. All service staff, from the trolley conductor to the ice cream vendor, wear crisp custom-designed nostalgia uniforms, while Sinatra and his ilk play on public speakers all day.
Residents of the Americana receive bonus rewards for shopping on the property, and access to on-site amenities that include spas, pools, yoga classes, and meeting rooms. The obliging concierge crew fills services not included on the premises, from grocery shopping to dog walking to mail delivery. So, in theory, your commute to work could be the only reason to ever leave the mall. The Americana at Brand is Ivanka Trump meets Thornton Wilder: the ultimate marriage of capitalist consumerism and the classic America Dream.
click to view complete set in the archive
InstituteTM (collectively Institute Pictures, Institute Studios, & Institute Artist) is redefining how stories are produced and told in the 21st Century. Founded by Producer Frank Evers and Director/Visual Artist Lauren Greenfield, we are a multiplatform production company representing auteur-driven storytellers across commercials, photography, fine art, film, and technology — and producing original work across every screen that those stories live on. Our multiplatform expertise and established global relationships in entertainment, commercial, fine art, and journalism create unmatched reach and cross-pollination of creative work. A film commission informs a photography campaign; a fine art practice shapes a commercial; an editorial relationship opens a documentary. Few companies operate fluently across all of these worlds. Institute was built this way from the ground up.
Clients include: Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft/Xbox, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Nike, Adidas, Lululemon, Under Armour, Dove, Maybelline, Clinique, Ulta Beauty, Aesop, Vaseline, LEGO, Balenciaga, Dior, Tom Ford, Kenzo, Supreme, Van Cleef & Arpels, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Toyota, McLaren, Pennzoil, American Express, Chase, U.S. Bank, Burger King, Chobani, Corona, Pepsi, Nespresso, Lavazza, Velveeta, Airbnb, Four Seasons, Marriott, Instacart, eBay, JCPenney, Levi's, Swatch, Bang & Olufsen, Bayer, Pfizer, Genentech, EA, Planned Parenthood, Ad Council, and the United Nations. Editorial and publishing partners include: The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, TIME, Bloomberg, National Geographic, The Economist, Monocle, Le Monde, Stern, Sunday Times Magazine, Phaidon, Steidl, Abrams, Prestel, Chronicle, and Random House.
“Institute” is a registered trademark in the US, Europe, and United Kingdom. All rights reserved.