I saw quite a few bland, boring shopping malls in my life, so when I drove today to the Max City center on the outskirts of Pula, I definitively didn't expect much ...
... but this time I had to reconsider my attitude towards the shopping malls, supermarkets, outlets, and all that typical suburban stuff ...
... because this building and its surroundings were genuinely interesting and fun to photograph.
Max City Pula was built at the entrance of an old, abandoned stone quarry ...
... and from a certain angle, looks like something futuristic thrown in the middle of a Flinstones-friendly landscape. If you enlarge this photograph by clicking on it, you may notice a distant building well blended into its surroundings.
This was the administrative building of the company that was extracting and processing the limestone, turning it into various construction-related products.
The thing looks abandoned now ...
... but when I parked the car in the shopping mall's garage ...
... and zoomed in on the aforementioned building from there ...
... I noticed some action on the roof.
An airplane soon passed pretty low above the scene.
The quarry was opened in 1943, and at first, the majority of the excavated limestone was used in the cement factory built not far from there, near the sea.
Here you can see a minimalist detail from the mall's facade. The construction in the following shot ...
... was photographed underneath that small window.
In this photograph, I'm walking towards the front facade.
As I was approaching the building ...
... a security employee was climbing the stairs ...
... that lead to the gray door under a multitude of colorful adverts. Here, on the front facade, you can see the names and logos of all the major stores inside the massive mall.
With these four shots, I'm in the garage again. I'm here for two reasons. No, three 😀actually. First - to show you the cool perspective and geometries created by the simple columns and the relatively large size of the place. Second - because in this relatively quiet place underneath the stores and all the typical shopping activities ...
... you can take a good, up-close look at another interesting element of the mall's architecture.
The closeness of the building to the wall of the old quarry ...
... that makes the Max City project different and unique, definitively more fun to explore than other shopping malls in Pula. And now ...
... is time to reveal the third reason for my current presence in the garage.
Well, I entered the mall from here.
These neon or neon-like circles were the most iconic piece of interior decoration. In my eyes and my opinion, at least.
Unlike its exterior, the mall's interior wasn't very interesting, so I don't know what to say here. In this photograph, you can see the elevated ground floor or something like that. Too low to be the first floor, too high to be considered grounded.
This is the first floor. Or almost the second. First and a half. I don't know. At this point, I was pretty bored and slightly confused. I mean, the space is certainly functional and doesn't look too bad by any means, but there was nothing interesting for me. It's like one of the prisons I saw in the movies, only the cells are open, have no bars and you can buy stuff there.
Without the circles on the ceiling, the place would be a total - meh.
Just like I entered, through the garage, I went out. The friends that were there with me stayed inside. Continued their shopping spree ...
... while I walked across the quarry ...
... and continued towards the quarry-related building already mentioned at the beginning of the post.
When I came closer ...
... I was able to take a better look at the work in progress that was going on among the relatively large chimneys.
Two workers were doing the job now ...
... and I followed their actions for a minute or two.
This was also a great place to photograph some features of the shopping mall that weren't visible from the garage.
Here you can see another man, probably a customer...
... that was enjoying a cup of coffee ...
... on the long terrace situated pretty high on the building's lateral facade.
Now, this was an exciting architectural detail, for a change. I like the look, the position, and the proportions of this terrace very much. A small human figure makes it look even better.
Various windows on the stretch of the facade far from the terrace also looked cool.
I found quite a few lovely minimalist compositions on that facade.
Underneath those windows ...
... delivery trucks were driving in and out of the garage.
This one is carrying the Slovenian beer.
These mundane quadrangular architectural elements look much better when there is some action around them.
The daily activities showcase their functionality and that can partially compensate for the absence of attractive decorations.
The hydrant and the red board that holds the fire extinguishers and some other fire-related stuff looked a bit like a pair of cartoon characters. Well, to me, at least.
Here you can see the terraces of the quarry that form some sort of stairway for imaginary giants.
Through the years with no excavation, the old quarry got overgrown with plants that can survive on that poor soil.
It became a large patch of urban wilderness ...
... in which a man can find some free edibles.
Stuff that can be cooked and served like spinach. Or used for herbal tea.
While my friends and many other citizens of Pula and its surroundings were doing their shopping in the nearby mall ...
... this lady was picking the free wild stuff on the stony, desert-like terrain that once was an active quarry.
A dog was walking behind her ...
... but not for long ...
... a minute or two later, the dog was leading the way.
Meanwhile, the trucks were driving back and forth, and they looked like toys from my point of view.
Above them, high on the terrace, the man finished his coffee and entered the building.
Judging by the many cranes all around the quarry ...
... soon we'll see more buildings in this area.
Until then ...
... I'll enjoy the unique atmosphere around Max City.
This shopping mall was built in 2018. I was aware of its existence but never visited the place until today.
AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK.
