First impressions of Mission Park are of Southwest and California styles in playful juxtaposition.  Starbucks Coffee is rendered in California Mission Revival style with ornate curved and stepped gables, arched openings and windows, a Spanish tiled roof, and a simulated bell wall (campanario) nearby announcing goods and services of mall tenants.  The architectural qualities of Santa Fe style most significant to the imageability of the shopping center are uninterrupted portales with vigas and authentically carved corbels over pine log columns.  The portales provide welcome shade on Okanagan Valley summer days with temperatures in the 40 degree (C) range.  The unit dominating this drawing replicates the tapered towers of the Spanish missions of New Mexico, with a ramada- like framework over an open bell loft.  When the shopping center was redeveloped in the early 1990s, the new owner-developers wished to avoid overworked styles introduced from California and the West Coast since the 1970s which would tend to date the buildings.  A reason given by the development company for selection of Santa Fe and California Mission styles is their origin and refinement in the American Southwest rather than in the drawing offices of architects and real estate developers. This was appreciated by the Argus Development and Construction Group: "the architecture has stood the test of time and it's just plain attractive."  The principals of the Argus Group became familiar with Santa Fe style in travels to Baja California and New Mexico.  Compelling factors in the choice of Santa Fe style for Mission Park are found in qualities of Okanagan Valley natural environments: "given the natural qualities of Okanagan climates, skies, and colors, what is the most appropriate style?"  More significantly, perhaps, Santa Fe style was an ideal choice for this project in the recreation of the ambience and streetscapes of a plaza in the Southwest.  A fountain or a kiosko was planned for the open area of the parking lot.  However, City parking regulation precluded this design concept, which would have strengthened its function as a "village plaza."  A Calgary architect worked closely with the Group to ensure authenticity of style.  For example, windows in restaurants are small and asymmetrical.  Santa Fe style has been transferred to Mission Park with close attention to stylistic elements, materials, and colors.   It may be argued that this Santa Fe style landscape feature in the Okanagan Valley is auspicious in the context of qualities of Okanagan light, color, climate, and natural vegetation. Less credulous explanations commend themselves: cultural aesthetics, connotative imagery of post-modern retail environments, myths of elsewhere, diffusion of popular culture through the media, the human landscape as a transcript of collective experience, and individual preference. 

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