History
In the early 1960s, developer Raymond Nasher leased a 97-acre (390,000 m2) cotton field on the edge of Dallas and hired E.G Hamilton of OMNIPLAN Architects (then Harrell+Hamilton Architects). NorthPark Center opened in 1965, as then the largest climate-controlled retail establishment in the world, and is now owned, managed, operated and leased by husband and wife David J. Haemisegger and Nancy A. Nasher (Ray's daughter). In 2006, NorthPark opened its doors to an expansion that more than doubled the size of the existing center. NorthPark brought back the original architecture firm, OMNIPLAN Architects, to ensure the original architecture was respected and enhanced. The expansion included a new collection of specialty retail shots and a third-floor 16-screen AMC theater. The new two-story expansion provided easy circulation by forming a continuous loop through the entire complex.
The American Film Institute's Dallas International Film Festival was sponsored by NorthPark Center in 2009. The event was held in the AMC NorthPark 15 movie theater center, which also hosted screenings during the festival’s first two years.
The center is lauded for architecture that draws in more natural light and fits seamlessly into the original mall’s sleek, modern design. Best known for its reputation as an art museum inside a shopping center, in November 2007, Northpark Center was named as one of the seven retail wonders of the modern world along with Neiman Marcus’ store at Natick Collection in Massachusetts, Japan’s Mikimoto store in Ginza, England’s Bullring shopping center, Poland’s Złote Tarasy in Warsaw, Apple’s flagship in New York City and Italy’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II .
In 2006 the former space which was vacated by Lord and Taylor was replaced with Barneys New York. The New York-based department store was the first and remains the only location in Texas. The recent expansion of Northpark attracted a wide range of famous labels to open at the shopping center: Oscar de la Renta, Roberto Cavalli, Hervé Léger, Valentino, Henri Bendel, Tod's, Salvatore Ferragamo, DeBeers, Gucci, Versace, Louis Vuitton and many more. NorthPark will also be the home for Texas' first H&M, a trendy and fast-fashion label from Sweden.
2006 also marked the year that the tenth annual Fashion!Dallas/Kim Dawson Model Search competition relocated from Galleria Dallas and began to take place at NorthPark Center. This competition helps launched the careers of supermodel Erin Wasson, Mimi Roche, Chaise Mooty, Ali Michael and hundreds of other successful models.
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