Target Field

This chapter analyzes the production practices of the architectural firm Populous during the design of Minneapolis's Target Field. It discusses Populous's dominance within the field of baseball stadium design, which has become self-reinforcing as its expertise has allowed the company to efficiently generate construction-ready designs and positioned it as the favorite for new baseball stadium commissions. It also explores how Populous's dominance has led to increasing homogenization of mallpark design and is materialized through generic designs similar to superstadiums. The chapter talks about the Populous' reproduction of basic spatial organization and successful amenities across commissions that draws aesthetic elements from local contexts. It argues that the differences between mallparks tend to be superficial.