Calvin Nguyen
The Grove, Los Angeles: a Study on Themed, Commercial, and Pseudo-Civic Spaces
The Grove has become one of Los Angeless main attractions, housing a farmers market, an assortment of shops, entertainment, and picturesque features, and attracting over 18 million visitors a year–on par with the holy grail of Los Angeles attractions, Disneyland. Yet, despite its prominence in Los Angeles urban leisure, little research has been devoted to this space. The Grove presents such an intriguing place as it does much more to immerse its visitors than the average mall; for one, it claims and boasts historical roots in its design and presentation–the most blatant example being its name, referencing the actual grove that preceded the commercial space. In essence, the Grove provides simulation in its architecture and control in its construction–a culturally and physically fabricated space that has very concrete effects on its visitors and city. My research aims to understand the Grove not just as a themed and immersive environment, but also as part of the phenomenon of privatized and controlled spaces acting as civic ones–the Disneylands of everyday life.
Message to Sponsor

- Major: American Studies
- Sponsor: Rice Fund
- Mentor: Kathleen Moran