Roosevelt Field Mall

The developer William Zeckendorf put the young I. M. Pei in charge of every aspect of the design, for his company Webb & Knapp. He trusted him completely and gave him a free hand to assemble teams of architects, planners and graphic designers. The mall opened amid great fanfare in 1956, in the middle of Long Island, on the site of the former Roosevelt Field airfield.

It soon drew notice for the way it handled parking, retail architecture and landscape, and above all for the bold graphics running through the whole scheme. In its original form it ranked second in size among the nation's malls. This large commission from early in Pei's career let him work out ideas and an architectural vocabulary that often return in his famous buildings.

The buildings rest on a classic steel frame, into which giant graphics are worked, drawn by young graduates of Yale's design school. Corporate identity was everywhere; the logo, a whimsical hot-air balloon, links Roosevelt Field's flying past with its future as the region's flagship, thoroughly modern mall.

Pei and Robert Zion collaborated closely on the landscaping. It was Zion's first major commission as well, and there he refined ideas he drew on throughout his career, up to Paley Park.

The mall is open to the public, in East Garden City in the middle of Long Island; Pei's original layout has been heavily altered.