The Mall

The Mall is a major new exhibition exploring one of the most influential and ubiquitous forms of architecture in modern life. Developed in partnership with internationally renowned architecture practice OMA and its research studio AMO, the exhibition traces the evolution of the shopping mall through architecture, design, technology, engineering, fashion and popular culture.

Unfolding across two storeys, The Mall brings together more than 560 objects from the Powerhouse Collection alongside more than 280 loans, archives and personal stories.

In 1959, Western Sydney played a foundational role in the development of the modern shopping mall when the first large-scale, transport-integrated Westfield shopping centre opened in Blacktown. From Blacktown and later Parramatta, Westfield developed a model that expanded across Australia and was exported to the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Italy.

The Mall begins with this Western Sydney story before looking outward to examine how shopping centres have transformed cities and shaped the way people gather, shop, socialise and experience public life. The exhibition reveals both the familiar public experience of the mall and the often invisible systems behind it, from architecture and visual merchandising to surveillance, logistics, automation and technology.

The Mall includes significant archives from Australian fashion and design brands including Le Specs, Hot Tuna, Mambo, Globe, Crumpler, Above the Clouds and Song for the Mute. The archive of Austrian-American architect and urban planner Victor Gruen, a key figure in the development of the modern American shopping mall, will also be presented. A reimagined 19th-century arcade examines the evolution of visual merchandising through new window displays developed in collaboration with Breville, David Jones, Oroton, R.M. Williams and Sportsgirl.

Exhibition highlights include the Levi’s 501 jeans worn by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and prototypes of the Predator football boot, conceived by Australian and former Liverpool player Craig Johnston and later worn by David Beckham. Rare material from Australian brands charts the emergence of distinctive design cultures that moved from local shopping centres to international audiences.

Acclaimed South Korean artist Ayoung Kim will present an animated film co-commissioned with M+ in Hong Kong in its Australian premiere. Japanese artist yang02 will stage an autonomous ballet of warehouse robots developed with logistics automation company KNAPP, exposing the automated infrastructure operating behind contemporary retail. The iconic Raindrop Fountain from Roselands in south-western Sydney will be reimagined by Australian industrial design studio Vert. The Mall is one of 5 major exhibitions that will premiere when Powerhouse Parramatta opens to the public on Saturday 7 November 2026.