His firm expanded at breathtaking speed. It still exists with offices in Los Angeles, Washington and New York. From the beginning, Gruen's credo was to create an environment worth living in. It is not much use to construct a building by itself. It is environmental architecture which today challenges our creativity.
Architectural styles are secondary.
In 1954, Victor Gruen set new standards in Detroit with the first multifunctional shopping center. It was a town in itself where people could do more than just shop. Two years later, Gruen's first roofed-over shopping center was opened in Southdale, south of Minneapolis. It consisted of shops, a school, an auditorium and a skating rink. Victor Gruen's idea was that malls should be a substitute for traditional city centers.