the 21st century megamall

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

2008-04-14T09:50:00.002-04:00

In Farquhar's article he talks about the brand gremlins and discusses what it is and how it affects the industry. Brand gremlins are people who are involved with a certain organization that doesn't really help them but instead diverts them on a tangent in regards to their goals. So organizations such as Sears Clothing, Woolworth, Conway are such examples or department organizations that have ran out of business or declared bankruptcy. However there are companies that have survived these brand gremlins such as Best Buy, Macys, Nordstrom, Saks 5th Avenue have all survived or have yet to experience these Brand Gremlins.
Just like in the movie, the Brand Gremlins ruin a company and can take it from a powerful company into a bankrupt one. Every now and then we hear these things happen and find out the person(s) responsible for these mishaps. Perhaps that this is a good thing for our society because with every death of a department, comes out a new one. Also, with new brands come out new Brand Gremlins....a new breed.

brand longevity

2008-04-13T22:10:00.000-04:00

The little things count. Brand longevity is something that businesses and their marketing directors must work hard to maintain. It actually amazes me that brands can be updated and altered so that businesses stick around for years and years. How did Macy’s continue to thrive, while other department stores disappeared? Established companies update their brands and finesse the operations of their business to meet the expectations of their customers. Not only are brands updated, but these companies have also been successful in avoiding “brand gremlins.” Farquhar defines brand gremlins as “those people, processes and other entities that are out of alignment with the organization’s overall brand strategy.” Brands are expected by customers to have a certain level of quality, regardless of the brand type or the age of the brand. Customers expect good service and constant availability. The brand defines its own set of rules for operations and image as well, which are well defined and are used to market the company. Brand gremlins sneak into the everyday operations of the brand and although fixable, begin to eat away at the draw of the brand.

Alabama is for lovers

2008-04-13T17:32:00.002-04:00

Place branding, like conventional branding, has its ridiculous moments. Such as the billboard in suburban Atlanta proclaiming "Alabama is for lovers." You don't have to be a yankee to find something a little odd in that statment. When I think of Alabama, I think of racism, the Civil Rights Movement, amazingly unintelligible Southern redneck accents, and so on. I certainly don't think to myself, "Where should I go on my honeymoon? I know!..." In the same way, I certainly don't associate Denmark with "cosiness, straightforward, design, bright, and oasis," (nor do I assume that all Danes make a habit of mixing nouns and adjectives in lists). Even if I did associate Denmark with all those things/descriptors, it wouldn't necessarily make me want to spend the couple thousand or so dollars it would cost to spend a week there as opposed to neutral, mountains, multi-lingual, bankers Switzerland.

Let's ponder crowded, one-child, red, Three Gorges, not-so-communist-anymore China for a second. Beijing will have the Olympics very soon. For the past couple of years the Beijing government has been enforcing a politeness campaign under the auspices of Beijing's Capital Ethics Development Office with the sole purpose of making Chinese citizens more Westernly polite in an attempt to impress all the visitors for the Games. In waging this $2.5 million campaign, the Chinese government is trying to do exactly what Blichfeldt claimed was impossible: to manage place brands by altering the behavior of the inhabitants of that place. While the success of the campaign was/is mixed at best, the very attempt to control people's lives to such an extent is interesting. (Not only did the government want people to alter their public lives - stop crowding busses, spitting, cursing, etc. - but also to tweak their private lives - no burping/farting/chewing-with-your-mouth-open at the table. As a nominally communist state, China can get away with such things, but elsewhere, Blichfeldt was correct in saying "locals are beyond the direct control of marketers" (Blichfeldt 398).

However, to me, the very necessity of (and the author's assumptions and implications inherent in) that statement are frightening. OF COURSE the locals are (should be) beyond the direct (or any) control of marketers. If they were, then the whole world would be DisneyLand, and we would all cease to be people; we would become characters in fuzzy suits, all living for the sole purpose of entertaining our "guests," never escaping that demeaning role until we ourself become "guests," willingly turning from slave to slave-master.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-02-08-china-manners_x.htm

Caution: Private Property

2008-04-13T13:32:00.001-04:00

“…reasons law and geography have remained so uninterested in each other. By comparison, if these two fields have remained distant, architectural theory and the law have barely acknowledged each other’s existence.” (Lonsway 348)

Walt Disney was a genius. He has always been associated with animation and making children around the world happier and even bringing out the child in adults, but his business side often remains hidden. I know we have discussed this colossal monster that is the Disney Empire, but once again, I find myself amazed. 50 years ago, he was doing things that only now companies are beginning to do.

He really pushed new ideas that had huge architectural implications. His idea of creating a buffer zone of purchased land around the entertainment center was a great way to avoid “suburban sprawl butting right up against the edge of the entertainment destination. It makes Disneyworld a true getaway. Not to mention, the many ways Disney got around private ownership technicalities while also avoiding issues with legalities in the state of Florida were very clever. I don’t think any company up until Santana Row has really pushed the ideas represented in Disneyworld as well as Walt Disney did. How clever to obtain full control while giving the appearance that the control is in the hands of others. When Disney set up a community which required a voting population, it seemed like a fair democratic system, when in all reality the only voters were Disney employees. Disney took Mob Tactics and instead of using a restaurant as a front, he used a big playground.

The entirety that is Disney also does such a fantastic job at implementing Lonsway’s next point. They put up a façade of public while truly they are entirely private. When I read Lonsway’s writings about this issue of Public and Private I thought about the “Privately Owned Public Spaces” Project in NYC. Through this system private companies looking to build on a specific site are able to get around certain building restrictions if they claim to offer a P.O.P.S. For example, if a Day’s Inn wanted to construct a hotel, they could get around set-back restrictions if they offered a percentage of the site up as a public space with 24-7 access. Often however, these spaces go under-managed and are not open 24-7. The companies use them as a front to appear like they are providing for the city while they are not.

“Extrapolated, this argument suggests that no matter how ‘accurately’ a private venture is symbolized as a public one, its private status is incontrovertible, based ultimately on the private contract of property ownership.” (Lonsway 351) Under this concept, even if something looks public, or as much as it may even perform like an actual public space, it is private when it comes to legalities. So, then I postulate, if someone were in a P.O.P.S. in NYC and was injured, could they then sue the owner of the property for lack of upkeep on equipment? Or as a counterclaim to that argument, could the private company in reverse then sue the individual for trespassing on private property?

Ultimately, I feel like spaces such as these P.O.P.S. or company towns like the one in the Marsh case, even if they appear public, need to have asterisks under the welcome sign that say “This town is privately owned by the Blank corporation and thereby private property.” Yes, it is ridiculous, but in today’s sue-happy society you, as both an individual and a corporation, need to cover your bases. In a society where individuals need a note on a cup of coffee saying “Caution: Contents HOT!” we obviously need new signs saying “Caution: Private Property!”

Disney Diluted

2008-04-13T11:05:00.000-04:00

In cases where brand is intimately linked to place, to what degree is it possible for a brand gremlin to undermine the sanctity of a themed landscape? In the case of Disney, there was initially a clear (although likely unintentional) intrusion from outside its walls – the success of Disney led to intense development of the surrounding area, and in turn forced Disney to acquire for itself what land that it otherwise could not control. Purchasing this land for use as a buffer zone makes sense in that it helps to contain fantasy solely within its borders, but was 110km2 really necessary to accomplish this? Although my knowledge on the subject is extremely limited, I would argue that, although the purchase of 110km2 of surrounding land does indeed protect the realm of fantasy from distillation by outside forces, a more problematic scenario presents itself as a distillation in the opposite direction - what happens when surrounding hotels and restaurants begin to “Disneyify” their services; not to the point of total immersion, but to try to assimilate themselves into the realm of fantasy on the most basic level? Ultimately, Disney’s purchase of the surrounding land suggests that a themed environment must be fully immersive and isolated to prove successful; the undermining of Disney’s borders by the extension of a pseudo-Disney environment causes one to question the validity of the “real” staged environment.

Gremlins

2008-04-12T16:58:00.000-04:00

While the town of Chickasaw may seemingly be public, it is in fact private, despite “its design signifying a traditional public space” (Lonsway). It seems as though the town of Chickasaw struggles to keep itself independent, due to the many spatial connections which service a town, whether it attempts to remain off the grid or not. Although these spatial conflicts seem outrageous, as architects a provocative issue comes to fruition when considering public vs. private, and how to design and develop a project which may interact with its public surroundings, but must remain private, thus autonomous. It is within these spatial connections that one may make a link to the architectural discipline and the idea of ‘brand gremlins’, which are “the people and processes responsible for seemingly small but repetitive mishaps…that progressively undermine a brand” (Farquhar). Along with the notion of the ‘brand gremlin’ comes the challenge of identifying a strategy to turn what is wrong with a particular product, use its assents, and develop it into something which benefits the brand. These so called ‘brand gremlins’ hold a significant relationship to architecture as a discipline, despite the fact that they seemingly hold no spatial concept.

In relation to ‘brand gremlins’, an architect/developer may go into a project with a specific idea about how their project could react with the landscape, thus developing a formal strategy based off of the existing site. After further land testing, the developer reveals that the ground contains some contaminates from future use, thus some land must be manipulated. It is then that the architect must use the assets of the land, despite that it has changed from the original concept, to still design and build a project which remains seamless to its surroundings, and “…turn gremlins into advocates for the brand” (Farquhar).

A Public Affair?

2008-04-12T16:52:00.004-04:00

Politics and court precedents always set for me a certain wonder for what will arise as a result of them. I wonder how the founding fathers of America would feel about how the second amendment extends to assault rifles when their goals at the time were simply to make up for the lack of a standing army. In the private rights and free speech debate in such places as malls and Disney, there’s obviously a lot of ambiguity for how laws put in place before electricity was really harnessed end up being interpreted in today’s day and age. Beyond even ideas like Disney policemen giving false impressions or protesting fur in front of Macy’s, I start to consider what implications ‘private domain’ may begin to have with the future of the internet.

The internet is inherently extremely ‘public’. It gives off all of the implications of a something that is public for personal gain (be it marketing or showing off a toy soldier collection) and therefore by the Chickasaw precedent of so many years ago which stated “The more an owner, for his advantage, opens up his property for use by the public in general, the more do his rights become circumscribed by the statutory and constitutional rights of those who use it.” (326 U.S. 501, 1947: 505, quoted in Lonsway 354)

So when a website gives off all the ‘identity’ signals of something public and is distinguished only by the fact that it is privately owned, can they get mad (as in ‘suing’ mad) when someone posts something insulting to them on their website? What about when someone is in a public forum on privately record company’s website and starts promoting their own show or band? Today, that’s usually called ‘spamming’, and like the ‘flyers in the mall’, one’s immediate reaction might be ‘well no, because that website belongs to that record company’.

But imagine if you will, a world many years from now where nearly everything you ‘need’ can be found with nothing more than the internet. Then, like the mall, that age old argument can be made again that if people are doing everything they need to online and 98% of all musicians start using one website that just starts to hold a sweeping monopoly for them (kind of like Google in the search engine business), then can’t one say that their entire target audience exists on that website and therefore they should be able to advertise to fulfill their ‘free press’, ‘free speech’ rights? Of course this kind of speculative debate could go on for many thousands of words, and is potentially useless until it starts to show itself more as a problem, but there’s some food for thought. Where, in a future internet-dominated world, is it okay to shamelessly advertise for free?

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The ART of Social Condensing

2008-04-06T22:36:00.000-04:00

Lifestyle centers such as the Easton Town Center are interesting artifacts, in regards to their programmatic layout and location. Programmatically, centers such as these lend themselves to the lifestyle found in areas of high population density and more urban environments. Combining housing and grocery with big name retail and restaurant dinning provides a very stable shopping demographic and the perfect solution to creating the opportunity for customers to revisit the location. What I find interesting is that locations such as these have been successful in the suburban context. The density of the surrounding area has not forced this type of lifestyle on the occupants, such as living complexes in Manhattan or Hong Kong have, but they have served as a social condenser at both the internal residential scale and the outward communal town scale. They have also been beneficial for the town due to the fact that they drastically increase the value of surround property and keep the taxes for the aid of their own community. Lakewood Town Center is a perfect example of the positive effects that can come from development projects such as these and should be used as models for smaller cites of a similar problem.
It is also interesting to consider the point at which retail development can become detrimental to a society. Projects like Lakewood and Easton have proven to work at a fairly large scale, but mega malls such as Destiny seem to take away from the sense of community. Although the tax income of the community may increase with sales, there is appoint where retail of such large scale can hurt the small business.

How much is "value" worth?

2008-04-06T21:53:00.003-04:00

It’s seems that value no longer has the same definition. Dictionary.com defines value first as “relative worth, merit, or importance,” the primary example being the value of a college education. Then the second definition is “monetary or material worth, as in commerce or trade.” The point that I’m trying to make is that value is no longer defined in the first example. It is about the cheapest. When Zukin writes about the honest brokers she says that “they place themselves on our side in the endless struggle for value” (Zukin 170) They may be attempting to do so, but true value never actually comes into play. It seems that true value only comes into play when the individual has the time or the money to make the distinction. As I said, people claim to want to know the value of goods but they don’t actually want to know it. They want what is quick, easy, and cheap. Dr. Phil, the popular talk show host, satisfies his audience because he is the quick, easy, and free answer to real therapy. But he’s not an actual doctor. Yes, of course, he is real. But how does his false advertising of therapy benefit the public who views his show. Dr. Phil.

Reality is unimportant to Americans so long as what they get is cheap and easy. When I worked for Best Buy, 90% of the people who came in were looking for the cheapest of whatever they needed. Even when it was a leisure item they typically spent the big bucks on the fancy TV because it has Sony or Pioneer slapped on it. But then, even when you tell them they are only going to get the “store quality” or “full quality” of the product if they buy all the appropriate cables and services, they don’t listen. Does anyone sign up for that? Of course not. They have the name brand they want, and they got it quick and easy and, yes it looks better than that old 20-inch Curtis Mathis, but it is not being used efficiently to it highest potential. Yet, the individual spent a good amount of money on a it and if they had only spent a little bit more, they would have obtained a huge increase in quality.
Zukin claims that the Honest Brokers “represent our deepest longing for value” (Zukin 173) But again, value is too often tossed around.

The problem is that this concept of value only worked when it was new. But when using this honest broker technique, deception crops up because people want to advertise according to this standard of honest brokers but in reality they are simply lying. In the new play, “Mr. Nice Guy” by Alex Coulombe, you find a pre-film commercial at the beginning of the play, and on the bottom of the screen there are little asterisks* citing that these quotes are not actual quotes or all the little catches to what’s being advertised. This may just be a play but it touches on reality.

Because so many companies have used the honest approach while really scamming the public, the consumer no longer has time for being convinced about the value. Now, most people just figure they will get screwed either way so why not go with the cheaper thing, so they don’t regret it as much. They don’t want to be scammed. In current advertising, companies have gone so far that they are calling each other out on this “fine print.” Companies are reading the fine print that the consumer may miss and bringing it to your attention to make their own product seem like the best option while also making their competition seem worse. But again, even those advertiser are hiding truths about their products.

The community mall article by Cohen and Borko is just reinforcing what was just stated. Americans want what is cheap, easy and quick and the lifestyle village provides that. It creates a microcosm of survival. Because the rise of suburbia has forced us into a situation in which you have to drive to Target and then find K-Mart and then go to Blockbuster and then drive all the way back home, Americans are wasting too much time, too much money for gas, and it was not as quick and easy as doing the same thing within walking distance, which is what the lifestyle village provides. Society has gotten so large and so spread out that the only way to deal with this many people is to begin breaking it up into villages. Villages have always existed, but because societies have become so dense in the past 100 years, we now are realizing that happiness lies in us reverting back to the idea of the village, where everything is close, small, convenient. The only problem is that economically we still live in a global market. Also “the narrative control of an individual’s experience is arguably central to commercial success.” (Lonsway 255) So companies don’t want to lose their hold on their consumers. But if we could look inward and have these villages exist as local, self-sufficient entities it would be a step in the right direction.

I'm getting it because he told me to ...

2008-04-06T17:47:00.003-04:00

In Sharon Zurkin's article she goes into depth about consumerism and how it has changed our lifestyle(s). Consumer guides are something that has came up that changes and influences the way we think about certain products. We rely on these people or so called "honest brokers" to tell us about products, items, and basically everything else you can think of. What they think and recommend to us is what we will most likely get next time we need a product. When they say that a Nissan 350Z is best coupe outside under $30K, we will definitely consider the Nissan 350Z because we trust the consumer guides advice. However, one question always comes up when it comes to consumer goods and that is, "How trustworthy are they?"
Recently in the gaming industry there was a scandal about consumer guides and electronic gaming companies. It seemed that gaming companies have paid off these "honest brokers" that write reviews about these games in order to enhance the games image. Game companies that produce games such as "Kane & Lynch:Dead Men" were rumored to have paid off the people who write reviews and coaxed them to write a good review about the game. Doing this would convince the consumer to buy that game next time they are at a Best Buy or a Game Stop. However, the reviews about that certain game didn't match what the consumer's thought about it as the majority of people who own the game basically said it "sucked."

public interest

2008-04-06T17:30:00.000-04:00

A critical issue, which was not directly mentioned, is another relationship between new public spaces like UEDs and lifestyle centers, and the individuals who inhabit them. For instance, in Easton Town Center, a lifestyle center mentioned by Cohen and Borkin, individual rights are stripped from users upon entry. Laws that essentially allow people to protest, be homeless, etc, do not apply to individuals who inhabit malls, Easton included. But Easton is certainly not a mall; residents spend much more time inside the institution than the typical mall-goer. The theme of category killer runs deeper than we often suspect. Not only is the lifestyle center a mixture of domestic and shopping activities, it is simultaneously a legally private and public entity. It seems important that public interest scrutinize the legal implications of the lifestyle center, where it appears difficult to maintain justice and democracy in places so legally complex. As we are forced to accept the mall as a community assembly amenity(in two senses), we need to reconfigure retail for added responsibility. It seems difficult for architects to deal with these issues directly, but control over programmatic distribution and a willingness to extend ones influence into these issues could be a start.

Consumer Dependency

2008-04-06T14:46:00.000-04:00

In this consumption based society, consumers try and take advantage of every resource available to them. In the grocery stores and shopping malls, consumers are faced with never ending advertisements and endorsements for products that they should be buying instead of others. “Today, we depend on the advice of honest brokers who teach us how to choose the best automobiles, microwave ovens, and take-out pizzas” (Zukin 172). Consumers are influenced more and more by these endorsements by magazines, noted newspapers and various books, that they have completely put aside their own opinions on products for those of complete strangers.

The writers for The New York Times, Car and Driver, PC World and Good Housekeeping have taken over for our parents in pointing us in the right direction on how we should live our lives. They will tell us which products are the cheapest, which are the most effective at doing their job and even which products are the healthiest for us. Even though these honest brokers are speaking to a general audience have no actual idea of what we really do need, they speak to us as if they will always know what’s best for each of us. By creating a dependency on the brokers, we as consumers struggle to purchase something even as insignificant as a book or a bag of pretzels without knowing which brand is above the rest.

The Price for Pretty

2008-04-06T12:23:00.001-04:00

Where to start…. If you think for a second it is easy to connect the dots and see the linear evolution from the Paris Arcades to Lifestyle Villages. What isn’t easy is to see where this evolution is heading. In order to see into the future a few critical questions must be asked first. Brian Lonsway addresses them but does not, nor should he have to, answer them. Where does this entertainment invasion stop and/or how much will it sacrifice program. In these designed hospitals, for example, a couple of problems have already arisen: including “problems of separately managing two clienteles” (Lonsway 288), and spending moneys on sand castles versus mental equipment. In other words, “wellness over illness” (Lonsway 295).

As architects, yes it might not be a surprise but should be a concern. And yes designing specifically for the blind, deaf and disable is essential for creating better spaces and yes shaking up the “idea” of a typology is not wrong, but where does it stop. Where does function get sacrificed for form? I think it is important for us architects to recognize this critical line and realize the consequences for crossing it.

On another equally important point of which I mentioned last week in class, is if everything is unique, what is it then unique too? What would it be like if there were ten Guggenheim's on 5^th Avenue? Move a little south on 5^th Avenue and you could see the result when the Seagram Building’s set back idea is duplicated and placed next to each other.

If I had to sum up my argument if would be that while conventional thinking is not the law, it is important to understand why it is the convention. Making things to look cool and unique might work at first but without substance it has no way of making it last. Wow I sound like my professor…interesting.

The Most Humble of Hostility, er, Hospitality...

2008-04-05T21:28:00.003-04:00

I get really worried when I start to see entertainment forcing its way into places it may not be welcome. In Lonsway's chapter, there is a section that discusses the transformation of hospitals in UEDs, and my immediate reaction to such ideas is visceral and negative. I'm not saying there's not potential in hospitals that focus on 'maintaining health' instead of 'treating illness', and I'm all for positive attitudes, but the examples I've seen just seem far too geared at making money and making the hospital a "destination", which I believe far exceeds its programmatic nature.

I've been to Dartmouth Hitchcock and as far as that goes, I think its fine. A food court in a hospital is wonderful, especially with the reputations that hospital cafeterias so often have. That being said though, I find it hard to believe Sloane and Sloane's notion that it's becoming a popular hang-out spot for teens, even if it is the only fast food joint in the area. Every time I've been there, despite the 'mall architecture', the atmosphere is nothing like a mall due largely in part to the clientel; The fact that half the people are in wheel chairs or give off the distinct impression of illness is a large departure from the clientel typical malls see. I don't think there's anything wrong with these kind of varying demographics, but the distinction should be made between what the hospital food court 'feels like' and the typical kind.

It's places like Celebration Health that start to frighten me. I’m infinitely curious how a place like that deals with the terminally ill patients, especially when they so transparently are trying to run a business (people may say the same for some typical hospitals as well, but generally when you're in a hospital you know the primary goal is to heal and not to sell). Places like Celebration Health already admit to separating the paying health club enthusiast and the frightened hospital patient awaiting treatment. Is it all about image, or do they really care? Are the truly ill tucked away so no one is depressed by them? Are they told until the very end that they’re on the path to recovery and everything will be fine? Are visiting hours at odd times so that weeping family members won't intersect the pompous aristocrat who just came from a Thai Poultice Massage? As Lonsway says, it really seems to be maintaining the status quo. It's too bad, because I agree that “If all 'guests,' patients and spa members alike, were pampered equally – medically, therapeutically, and architecturally – then, perhaps, we could have a more hospitable hospital.” (290) The trick is how to do it.

I have to admit that going into the idea of a UED Hospital, I couldn't help but immediately think of a couple of family guy moments that explore an exaggerated (but who knows? It could happen...) potential of 'entertainment' hospitals. One was Peter doing stand up for terminally ill kids, where the difficulty kept arising that the kids wouldn't be able to relate to stand up humor since it inherently tends to be about trivialities in life, things the terminally ill tend not to fret about as much as the average comedy club enthusiast.

"I was the DMV the other day. Long lines at the DMV, but you’ll find that out when you’re old..er...(awkward pause)”
-Peter Griffin

The other is a doctor having trouble telling his patient that he has AIDS, so he thinks a singing Barbershop quartet will soften the blow. The point, I think, is that some issues need to be dealt with seriously and while in many cases humor makes things easier to deal with (politics from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert), turning something like telling you 'you're going to die' into a laughing matter is very thin ice to tread on. Bill Cosby's done stand up for terminally ill kids and I believe it went over very well. After coming to terms with a condition that you can't do anything about, it might make you feel better if your friends wrote you a song about it, I don't know. I believe it's all possible, but requires some pretty in depth exploration and a very specific mindset of what you're setting out to do.

YOU HAVE AIDS

The Space Between

2008-04-05T21:21:00.003-04:00

Just as CityWalk attempts to recreate an urban feel without actually subjecting its dwellers to all the related risks of a metropolis, the ‘hidden persuaders’ in the marketing industry deceitfully expose consumers to various marketing schemes. Embedded within this “suburban strip mall…” (Lonsway), CityWalk attempts to advertise, but specifically entertain through its “…thematic cues – its experiential referents – from the city core” (Lonsway) by producing a themed destination outside the city, while at the same time reenacting it. Today, the addition of entertainment to any event or discipline “fills the eyeballs of millions seeking short-term, user-controlled, instantly-gratifying distractions (Wolf, 16, 30-48). It is quite possible that within these distractions, the notion of the anxious buyer is born. Constantly subject to many different forms of advertisement and marketing pressures, as consumers the quality of a purchase or buying experience remains the most influential aspect to shopping. As overwhelmed consumers continue to establish various interactions with advertisement via highly profiled retail venues, a whole new realm of entertainment is established. The appearance of the so-called ‘honest broker’ attempts to thrive off of a default space set between that of a marketer, and that of the consumer. However, in the midst of “earnestly trying to balance the objective qualities of money and materials against the subjective qualities of pleasure and style” (Zukin), ‘honest brokers’ in themselves seek to provide a new level of entertainment. As an extension from the idea of an ‘honest broker’, popular magazines, newspapers, and journals now hold specific sections designated to providing a consumers guide to the trendiest fashions and the best bargains. In the words of Zukin, “… a consumer guide is not just a guide to goods; it is a guide to the longing for clear, precise, and transparent standards in the public sphere” (Zukin). Even those who claim to provide ‘honest’ insight to the current market, seek to provide a level of entertainment by means of establishing a notion of what remains acceptable within the pubic sphere.

The Next Step

2008-04-05T17:22:00.001-04:00

The pervasiveness of thematized environments has reached a dangerous level – a level where we no longer seem to notice (or worse, care) upon entering one. Obviously, varying degrees of departure from “the norm” will elicit differing degrees of wonder, bewilderment, or outright rejection, but we must consider whether the appearance of the manipulated narrative experience is due exclusively to the increased “commercial savvy” of the entertainment industry from the 19th to 20th century. Our culture is fast becoming (broad generalization coming) one of commercial expectation – one of themed one-upping which demands an increasingly themed environment for increasingly themed (branded) people (NikeTown, for the athlete). Whether this is for “maintaining wellness,” as in the themed hospital environment, or for a more discreet branding strategy, one thing seems for certain: now that we’ve come this far, we can’t go back. Such a distillation of the essence of the “here and now” is troubling, especially when we are called to design in it…if the process of design is a kind of innovation grounded in the present, then the idea of designing in a specific theme, utilizing specific tactics for specific ends, is a daunting one. My natural reaction is against this trend, but ultimately the role played by the architect on the world’s stage will more than likely be that of a facilitating agent.

truly living...

2008-04-05T13:14:00.003-04:00

What else can be said about the Lifestyle Center? Like it or not, It is the new architectural type of our time. We are forced to witness its growth the very moment we visit the construction site around the Carousel Center. That’s right, even Syracuse is getting its own Lifestyle Center, as a means to revive the once thriving city. We can even see its insertion in Armory and Franklin Square. As architecture students, It is in our face and we are forced to uncover its somewhat vague architectural uniqueness. We can either resist it or embrace its innovation. The Andrew Cohen article is one of the first I have read that paints this New Urbanist phenomenon in a semi-positive light. As a means to revitalize an area we must over look the glamour of its billboard style architecture to highlight the benefits of it. If these Lifestyle Centers are planned correctly they can succeed, as Cohen showed us the through various Lifestyle Centers in California and Ohio. If this is the type of architectural intervention people are interested in, why not give it to them. Architecture is ultimately at the mercy of the publics demand. One problem I do see with it is its demographic bias. As Cohen puts it, the success of this new typology is ultimately determined by its location. Thus, we see these “malls” that only cater to a higher end demographic. I feel this is unfortunate and is masking a greater social issue. I feel these centers would benefit by introducing themselves to a diversity of the target public. Then again, maybe the Lifestyle Center is not for everybody, but the consumer should make that decision. I myself couldn’t imagine living above a Banana Republic or Crate and Barrel into my adulthood but there are others that marvel at its chic approach to urban living. If the target demographic is aging baby bloomers, like Cohen states, I find this type of project to be a hard sell. But if these candy-wrapped examples of architecture can tastefully revitalize the urban landscape I feel we all can benefit from it, even architects.

Too Much?

2008-04-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

We as human beings are consumers and so our lifestyle. Developers have recognized it, thought about it, and have developed much so that it has become a way to profit from it; the production of the building typology “Lifestyle Village”. I also want to question if consuming is indeed the main drive behind the human psyche that has made these Lifestyle Villages a success. I feel as though that the Lifestyle Village works its appeal in another way. There are people who like the urban-esque feel of the shops and housing combo that you would find in a city, but feel that living in the city is too fast and or too busy of a lifestyle and more noisy and dangerous of a place. Lifestyle Villages eliminate those negatives. Their new type of a recreated, semi-suburban environments allow their inhabitants to have the best of both worlds; the implied urban environment with convenience, variety, safety, and less noise of suburbia, while also being apart of a new trend. Will this become the new way of living in America and will it catch on so well that it could fade the attraction of our idea of suburbia as well as become its replacement? Or, with the development of the “mega mall” and the UED becoming more populous, will people really want to live in that close of a proximity with more shopping other than that of necessity? In our consumer lifestyle, is there a point of where a limit is reached of a feeling of too much consumption?

the secret to success

2008-03-31T00:19:00.000-04:00

In The Soul of the Company Store: Nike Town John Sherry depicts Nike Town as an entertainment destination that has grown into a cultural phenomenon. What makes Nike Town a spectacle in and of itself is its picture perfect integration of shopping and entertainment. NTC has successfully brought these two aspects together. The Nike Corporation has profitably branded its image and its Flagship store, in Chicago, has only highlighted itself as an innovator in the retail market. The author talks of branding as an extension of the company’s image. Whether its Nike, Harley Davidson, or Jeep these companies are popular today because they have loyal customers who support their products and buy into them because they are such status symbols within out society. Nike Town has shown us that branding as an advertising strategy is a profitable tool when it is use correctly. Nike can easily attribute its success to the quality of its products and to its successful advertising strategy. This marketing tool has added to the positive image of the brand and is why people are buying into it. Through innovative advertisement, Nike has branded an image that people want to be associated with. The integration of its products into a museum-like atmosphere is one example of how Nike has branded its image as a forward thinking company. Nike Town has pushed the limits of conventional retail architecture. In doing so they have attained the hard to capture cool factor. At the time of it’s opening, the architectural typology of Nike Town was so unusual for a retail giant. Yet, it is why it has become a successful typology among retailers today. Nike Town has made shopping fun! But it is not simply about selling their products it is more about selling their image. Like the author said himself, when looking at a Nike product in a traditional department store he will forever associate that product with the experience he had at Nike Town. The product he purchased is not what left him with a lasting impression of the brand, it was the experience associated with the product that made him a fan of the brand. Companies are reapplying some of Nike’s techniques and making it their own. Apple is one such company. Apple has recognized that image is ultimately everything and chasing cool is what attributes your success. Apples 5th avenue store in NYC is another example of this phenomenon. Because of visionaries like Nike, retailers are seeking the cool factor through the architecture of their stores. This not only benefits the retailer but is a bonus for the consumer as well.

Where am I?!?!?!

2008-03-30T23:16:00.001-04:00

Brandscapes and Brandfests essentially convey the same idea when it comes to the consumer. That idea is the image (or branding) a company produces and how it goes back into the consumer. Both are also extremely influential sorts of advertisements to people of all ages. Younger people might be attracted to some sort of brand because the commercials and other forms of advertisements appeal to their generation. Wherever we go, there is brandscapes, brandfest and etc. and it becomes part of our social norm. This is what brand are out to accomplish, and that is to create a direct and indirect relationship between the brand, item, and most importantly, the consumer.
The reading by Sherry also talked about Niketown in Chicago and this bought back memories on my first visit to Niketown in New York City. The Niketown in NYC has two different functions, and that is selling items and to display various things such as memorabilia from other famous basketball players like Dr. J or even a imprint of Shaquille O’Neill’s hand. It’s as if the store has a double function. I remember that I almost got confused of where I was when i frist entered the Nikestore because I always ended up asking myself "where am I?" This idea also applies to other stores around NYC that contain this “double function” program (Disney Store and F.A.O Swartz). The images and branding of Nike has been all over us and you can’t get away from it. Nike’s image of sports has been subliminally imprinted into our brain. Whenever I think of sports, no other sports brand comes into mind firs than Nike.

Making Connections

2008-03-30T22:36:00.002-04:00

The reading "Brandfests: Servicescapes for the Cultivation of Brand Equity” was tailored to the experience of the participant. The article was addressing “brandfests,” or events organized by a specific brand for its loyal customers. These events were analyzed for their success in creating environments that were suitable for not only customer enjoyment, but in creating memories that enhance the bond between customer and product. The same can be said for architecture and how every architect is aiming to create an experience in their design that is memorable for the inhabitant. During the design process the architect is trying to visualize how someone would feel existing in their designed space, how this person would react to one floor pattern versus another. Architecture and branding share a very similar goal; that goal is to provide a memorable experience for the customer. This interaction between consumer and provider is what makes any one person form opinion and enable them to make choice. Why buy one product or enjoy one space more than any other? You prefer one over the other because you had an experience that was not necessarily only memorable, but exciting or informative or unfamiliar. This idea of designing a space that will create an experience for the consumer can be compared to what is going on with DestinyUSA. The project is not only a mall for people to purchase items; it is an experience in sustainable design. Of course the goal of the mall is to make profit, but at the same time they will be educating the public through a memorable architecture all revolving around the health of our environment. This project will further prove how architecture can be used as an informative resource that has the ability to engage with the inhabitant on more than just a physical level.

Branding a Brand new Brand

2008-03-30T22:20:00.001-04:00

I simply must begin by seconded Ian’s comments. “Get people hooked on a product and provide them with exit barriers so that they can never abandon their product, and watch the bottom line get fatter.” (Ian Nicholson) Also, give them the feeling of experiencing risks of all kinds while what is actually happening is simple a façade for something that is safe and entirely under control. “Brandfests" is disgusting yet horribly accurate in most aspects. These readings just seemed like one façade under another. How literal too, as in our constant conversations about big box architecture and designing spaces like those Disney creates; spaces with a stage, backstage, and wings. Well, this staging is absurd.

We begin by discussing the way that a town becomes a brand. I question, if we have gotten to this point, then what isn’t a brand? I understand that a town is advertising itself as a seafood or produce center, but then isn’t every city going to try to brand itself in a similar way. Does the not happen naturally? What’s next, branding a “brand” with a person? After I asked myself that question I found the new Gatorade Tiger “It’s in him. Is it in you?” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WenTKxRxIAk)

It all just seems so fake. Take risks? Are these individuals who attend these brandfests really taking physical risks, in the comfort of their brand new “brand” of Jeep.
It’s never about the brand. It’s about the risk, right? It’s about being a “badass.” It’s about doing something ridiculous and exciting. But after all that “The first principal of perceived risk for the brandfest is that there should be some. The second is that it should not be overwhelming.” (McAlexander 384) So in reality, all these brandfests are about pretending to be taking risks. Ok, so there are also apparent social and financial risks that can happen, but it seems to me that all risks involved are made less risk-like with the help of brand loyalty. The brand is there to reassure. It is there to calm, comfort, and unite! Yet again we find more façades.

McAlexander goes into depth about how certain locations for these brandfests have nothing to do with natural beauty of the place but everything to do with the brand uniting a group of people. To put it plainly, it is rather annoying that a brand must exist to bring people together. But rather than get angry I’ll try to think this through. When making friends, what traits does one look for? Interest in the same music, movies, etc. Essentially one looks for interests in the same products and the same activities.

Is it even possible for us to interact without product involvement? Last week Amelia showed a video of students dancing in a store, trying to have a good time without paying or playing the consumer. And though this act was successful, the store was on the verge of calling security and shutting this all down. So past a few minutes of freedom, is this really free? This is how I feel about branding. You can’t even go see your favorite artist without being slapped in the face by advertising. Just the venue alone exists purely as a means of selling a product while masquerading as a place to bring people together. The Wachovia Center, Izod Center, Campbell’s Field, Coors Field, etc. are all prime examples. Even team names are lost and creativity and regional pride are thrown out the window for branding. The best example I can think of is the New York soccer team which has been renamed “Red Bull New York.” Even though fans typically call them the “Red Bulls”, you can see in the title and on their jersey that they are just the “Red Bull,” exactly like the drink. They are only an Australian produced energy drink. They are no longer a soccer team.

And Ian’s comments about “what social group isn't a granfalloon?” worries me yet again. I often wonder how I can see non-commercialize things still popping up. I often hope for shared identity around something that cannot be bought and sold, because I do agree. When our society is built up on items that can change hands so quickly and easily, why should we expect relationships built on that unsturdy ground to remain strong.

Ultimately, I propose that any individual must be entirely removed from something to not experience the branding of America. That individual must either be removed from it, like the “Allegory of the Cave” or must be oblivious too it. As for those of us, not so fortunate to be oblivious in some way, our only way out, is to work and live in the consumerist society long enough to obtain enough capital to purchase a large farm, live on it, build your home with local materials, blowing your own glass for your windows from nearby sand somehow, drinking water from a stream, feeding on the animals, plants and vegetables on our property and making clothes from the sheep’s wool and cotton that would have to be grown. Oh and to make that work, you made need 20 hands or so, so be sure to have a lot of children. Also, expect to live a shorter life than the rest of society because you can no longer take Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, etc. And after all of that, you can only provide for survival and for your family’s survival, because the minute you sell any of your “products”, you sell out and you have fallen back into the viciousness that is commercialism.

And just for fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNedC3j0e4&feature=related
Commercialism backfires when Chevy lets anyone create and post a commercial for the new Tahoe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmyi-aGq6ZE
A Target Commercial that is telling the audience “I don’t know why you say good buy” as if strangely criticizing themselves and saying their products are not a good buy, so why shop there. Oh, I know why, because they have catchy jingles and pretty pictures that are disguising them.

Were did you get THAT from?

2008-03-30T19:16:00.000-04:00

As we read these weeks readings, we begin to see and understand how advertising and image are parts to the companies ultimate goal of developing and maintaining a brand. It goes beyond just reaching out to consumers and getting them to buy your product, it is about establishing relationships between the consumer, product and company. Referring back to Paco Underhill’s observations of people shopping and him being about to predicting what kind of deodorant people use is a helpful way for me to understand statements like “the most important message the brandfest can convey about the brand is its fit with owners lifestyles and relevant role identities” (391) and “That a person can develop a relationship with a possession” (388). As much as companies establish specific demographics and target audiences, consumers are identity with certain companies. People like identifying with products. A good example for understanding this is the i-pod. What does it mean to have an i-pod? Why have other company not been able to break apples domination in the music player industry? One reason has to do with the identity having an i-pod give back to the consumer.

There is one caveat, which the reading subtly mentions. For the most part the more exclusive and in demand the more likely it will be able to establish a brand and in turn a consumer identity. Once this appeal is lost and consumer’s identity “unwanted” association (either people or impressions) with the product then it loses its allure.

As a result brandfest, Niketown and Coke factories have all been created in order to maintain this demand and uniqueness. This raises questions of when will the unique become the norm and when this threshold is crossed what will happen?

Missed Opportunities?

2008-03-30T18:52:00.002-04:00

This week's readings on brandfests and brandscapes threw into stark contrast for me the utter lack of these experiences I've found myself in. To be frank, the NTC sounds like a excellent tourist attraction and I will almost certainly go there if I find myself in Chicago. The closest I've come to experiencing anything like a brandfest or brandscape actually came to me: a Taylor Guitar traveling road show at my local music store, about five miles away from my house. Like McAlexander and Shouten describe, this was an event that brought together people with a common interest (playing guitar), yet instead of following their guidelines of setting rules like 'you need to own a Taylor guitar to come', they opened the exclusivity to simply people who play guitar. I believe this to be more effective when you're trying to get people to become interested in a company than limiting to people already interested in a company, and it certainly didn't create "dissonance" that I happen to play a Yamaha.

In addition to all sorts of Taylor-brand prizes and discounts, the 'show' was an intricate demonstration of how Taylor guitars are made and tested (presented by the factory workers) and what sets them apart from the competition. As a selling pitch, it worked extremely well, and the opportunity to play $8000 guitars for even a few minutes sure as heck made me want to 'convert' to Taylor guitar playing, and if I had $8000 to spare, I probably would have bought one of those guitars right on the spot (especially since they usually go for $10,500, wow, I'd be saving $2,500!). Even the 'risk factor' was present, as the showmen gave a few mini guitar lessons to those of us playing, hoping to help us improve our technique in mere minutes, and later jamming with everyone. Like McAlexander and Shouten describe, this gave a personal quality to a large company and gave me fond memories that I now associate with whenever I'm in a guitar store or see someone playing a Taylor.

What's the main reason I went in the first place? It was convenient and fit into my schedule. Like UEC's, I wonder if the future of branding might be less 'destination' and more locale oriented, as if the 'show' was more than five miles away, I probably wouldn't have gone. However, like Disneyland, NTC seems to be such a destination that it's pull will probably remain strong for many years to come, but with 'convenience' taking more and more of a hold on everyone, I wonder how long NTC can truly survive...fifty more years?...twenty?......four?

Hello. My name's Jim and this is my wife Debbie. We met on the Honda Highway of Love.

2008-03-30T18:39:00.004-04:00

Costumer Loyalty. Get people hooked (psychologically) on a product and provide them with "exit barriers" so that they can never abandon their product, and watch the bottom line get fatter. Like almost everything in our consumer society, I find "brandfests" (apparently, the most successfull "Brand Equity" ploy conceived of to date) to be both pitiable and laudable. They provide a major social event that has the potential to change people's lives, but that event is in the name of addicting that person to a brand, a corporation, and its attendant image, and those friends and discoveries you've made while taking your Jeep off-road are nothing but devices engineered to keep you coming back to your welcoming local Jeep showroom.

But that's the culture in which we live. It makes sense that humans in a consumerist culture would "find themselves" and forge life-long friendships at a fetishistic gathering meant to further entrench their consumerist way of life. Social networks are fuelled by common experiences that bind certain groups together, but when those experiences are hollow, contrived, produced by ulterior motives, then how strong can that social group really become?

Kurt Vonnegut referred to such groups as "granfalloons" in his novel Cat's Cradle. "If you wish to study a granfalloon, just remove the skin of a toy balloon" (Vonnegut). A granfalloon is any proud society or group who's existence is based on a shared identity or purpose that is actually meaningless. Vonnegut cites "the Communist party, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Electric Company, the International Order of Odd Fellows - and any nation anytime, anywhere." I would argue that social structures created at Jeep Week, Nike Town, or any commercial piece of our culture would fit into this category.

But then, what social group isn't a granfalloon? In our society EVERY piece of shared identity or purpose has been commercialized and effectively evactuated of any real substance. So where does meaning in our interpersonal relationships come from? I don't have the answer, and (I'm pretty sure) Nike doesn't have it either.

the nike museum

2008-03-30T15:01:00.000-04:00

In John Sherry’s visit of Nike Town Chicago with the two industrial designers, he is introduced to the concept that the NTC is much more than a simple retail store, but that it is a museum in its own respect. The fact that it is of the same caliber tourist attraction as Chicago’s other main sites, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Art Institute, says a great deal about the impact of this Nike store. The store is able to accomplish much more than any other retailer that sells Nike merchandise; it showcases the pieces in a way that would lead an observer to respect the quality and originality of the good.

More than just showcase the Nike Merchandise, the store succeeds in teaching the average consumer as well. To the athlete, the store highlights the newest and most innovative shoes, apparel and equipment that any serious player should have. In addition the store acting as a teacher, the consumers can become the teachers as well. “Look at all these parents showing their kids around; they’re teaching. Just like a museum” (Sherry 111).

These Nike Stores that exist in various cities other than Chicago work to showcase their products around the world. They exist as a series of “museums,” that not only allow people to observer and admire their products, but also to test the items for themselves.

nudging your way into history

2008-03-30T12:58:00.001-04:00

When visiting NikeTown in Boston, just a few steps past the door is all it takes to realize, as Sherry points out, that this is not a store, but a museum. It functioned much like a corporate museum would, trying desperately to legitimize its place in Boston’s prized local sports history, with bronze castings of Marathon runners crossing the finish line and Celtics jerseys lining the wall. This tactic of localizing a global enterprise is fairly clear; it facilitates the consumer-company relationship described by Sherry, and indirectly caters to the lofty goals and aspirations of the athlete. To the aspiring athlete, Nike becomes a tangible conduit through which to access success and notoriety, much like an art museum tries (albeit in a much less overt and overbearing way) to inspire by showing the work of the “best of the best.” For me, where the disconnect between store and museum happens is in the interactions between the consumer and NikeTown. On my visit, I was warned several times by vigilant employees that photography was not permitted inside the store. The proscription of photography seems logical when considering a museum atmosphere, where ambiance and the experience of the museumgoer are held as sacred, not to be disturbed by flash photography. In NikeTown, however, prohibiting photography seems to make less sense. The corporate image of Nike is one which would appear to encourage the association of “hype,” traditionally linked with sports events, to the unveiling and exhibition of new products. Photography is a means of fabricating excitement and interest in a subject that otherwise may not exist. This, in conjunction with the eager crowd surging into NikeTown to see the latest in athletic wear, is capable of giving the NikeTown Museum all the publicity it needs.

Virtual Brandscape

2008-03-29T23:38:00.003-04:00

For its Nike lab website, a public face of its r+d dep., Nike presents a series of interview style video vignettes in which employees are interviewed about themselves and their history with the Nike brand. This presents a compelling cross section of Nike’s far reaching popular success and entangles Nike’s human corporate product and its products of rubber and nylon. As a corporate recruitment and product advertisement mashup device, Nike uses its tried techniques in its search for tomorrows innovators. On one particular portrait, Nike Portland’s Sally Bohan testifies to her Nike shoe fetish, “I’ve got a huge collection of windrunners, its probably my favorite piece…they’ve always been my most favorite piece.” She also goes into her first independent consumer purchase, “ a pair of silver airmax”, which she bought “with her own pocket money”. The page is divided in two, on the left is Sally in front of a corporate-looking building, leaning on her bicycle, stylishly clad in a nike windrunner jacket, skinny jeans tucked into a pair of air trainer 1s. On the right half we see her jacket very closely and can begin to evaluate the design for ourselves. Here we find the work of Nike’s well honed emplacement machine, this time employees have been mined as artifacts who literally embody Nike’s vision. Prospective employees get the added value of both entertaining and visually pleasing vistas into Nike corporate life, the Nike brandscape ever broadening and adaptive.

http://www.nike.com/nikelab/?sitesrc=USNS

Breaking Free

2008-03-29T20:38:00.002-04:00

Ultimately both brandscapes and brandfests attempt to produce atmospheres which target the modern day consumer; all while attempting to build extraordinary experiences which challenge the social and emotional norm of consumer products. Niketown in Chicago proposes a symbolic experience designed “to evoke in consumers a range of synergistic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that encourage active engagement with its servicescape” (Sherry). A direct correlation can be seen between brandscapes/brandfests, and the idea of assigning a celebrity theme to a restaurant. Very similar to restaurants and museums which depend on an element of entertainment to suffice consumer needs and interests, brand name vendors such as Nike and Jeep are forced to immerse themselves within the ‘brandscape’ realm of advertisement.

Brandscapes/brandfests are powerful advertisement endeavors proposed to challenge the shopping norm, while at the same time architecturally respond to the contextual landscape in which they reside. While the exterior of NTC is designed to “conceal its internal wonders”, the interior mimics that of the town square, which “stimulates the feeling of strolling outdoors through a small-town shopping district” (Sherry). Niketown in Boston also reacts to its urban fabric by recreating the different stages of the Boston Marathon which can be experienced throughout the store as one travels around the main circulation armature of the space. In regards to brandfests, McAlexander comments “careful orchestration of a brandfest places the brand at the center of consumer activity in contexts that are relevant, or even central, to key aspects of the consumer’s identity” (McAlexander). Often the environment which a store or brandfest establishes can be convincing enough where consumers are willing to travel just for the experience to broaden their horizons and potentially break free of the shopping norm.

We "love" you You should LOVE us!!

2008-03-29T20:30:00.002-04:00

The concept of creating a relationship between a brand name and the consumer has been a technique of marketers for many years. In recent years, the concept of organizing events surrounded around the experiences and the status of affiliation with a select product has proven affective as a marketing technique. With Mcalexander and Schouten’s analysis of Camp Jeep we can see the theme of entertainment play a dominant role in the advertisment of their brand and product itself. Similar to the idea of the UEC that we have previously studied, the incorporation of a relationship based on an atypical experience (outside the daily routine) can provide an opportunity for loyalty and trust between the consumer and producer. It can also provided an added incentive to return, or in the case of a retail chain, the incentive to spend more time in and around the products. As stated by the authors, “Reicheld and Sasser report that reducing customer defections by 5 percent can boost profits by 85 percent.” Numbers of return such as these can not be overlooked and the successfulness of incorporating entertainment into the sales of a brand name can not be denied. Brandfests do not limit themselves to the specific location in which they are held. They subsequently “leak” into our lives through nearly all forms of media such as television, movies and magazines. These, more normative forms of marketing, have become the primary vehicles for building the elitist status that is associated with many brandfest events. The bragging rights and sense of personal growth that seems to come from the involvement of these events are subconsciously engraved in our minds by constant media attention and the ties that are made with Hollywood excitement.

It Goes Both Ways

2008-03-29T16:29:00.000-04:00

Branded environments are becoming more populous. I feel that there are two ways branded environments come about. One, the direction based on the reading, is the brand is established and the environment comes secondary to further support the brand and keep it alive; some brands that have used this direction are Nike, Coca-Cola, MGM and M&M. But the other one that I would like to more explore is the opposite, the direction in which the environment is established and the brand follows, examples being Rainforest Café and Build-A-Bear; I also feel Las Vegas achieves this on a certain level. One could question the effectiveness of direction number two, stating that it is not as successful, but it also has to be realized these notable brand experiences belong to older brands, not the new babies of the environment-brand. It is also good to note that in the environment-brand approach, people will be more likely to make in store purchases, such as in the Rainforest Café and Build-A-Bear because there are no distributors of their products that can offer markdowns or sales, their products are only sold by them. The Rainforest Café, for an example, also mark up their food prices, because they can. Why? The experience, because no where else can you sit in a room with fish tanks, waterfalls, moving animals, vines overhead, while it thunderstorms every fifteen minutes?

Something New and Different

2008-03-24T01:58:00.001-04:00

As Americans gained shorter and shorter work weeks with it saw an increase in income, a push towards a lifestyle with increased leisure was able to emerge. The Urban Entertaiment Centers as described by Rubin, Gorman and Lawry in, “Entertainment Returns to Gotham,” were the direct result of innovations, entrepreneurs and an increase in money flow. Consumers have a constant desire to see and experience new and exciting things all the time, which is the reason why the UEC’s continue to evolve today.

As innovation and technology continue to grow, what used to seem impractical in the entertainment community has now become a reality. These entertainment stores not only function as a place to go for shopping but also as an activity. In comparison to the mentioned Niketown, many toy stores now not only function as a store, but also as an amusement park. The ToysR’US in New York City contains its own Ferris wheel.

As these stores continue to grow and evolve they also function in bringing in countless consumers to an area that may have been lacking beforehand. As is the case with DestinyUSA, the mere addition of retail stores would not draw people to the area, but it is the inclusion of the many entertainment venues that will draw people in to see something entirely new and different.

Condensed Architecture

2008-03-23T21:17:00.002-04:00

“Part real estate, part entertainment venture, urban entertainment centers are a novel development product that will soon make an appearance in cities across the

United States

.” Rubin 59
”means of revitalizing downtown retail and cultural areas and as a strategy for bringing residents of the region into the city for shopping, eating, and recreating.” Rubin 60

Ultimately, what do people want?
It seems that they want everything in a smaller and smaller and closer and closer space.
People want “a blend of retail, food and beverage, and entertainment options that can achieve a higher performance profile than these first-generation festival marketplaces or themed retail projects.” Rubin 62

But what does this mean for architecture? Before this concept of the mall became so popular, architecture was about a series of small interior spaces scattered across a large exterior space. The drive toward Urban Entertainment Center’s and large urban centers in general is what created our current architectural situation in which we now have that same series of small interior spaces but compacted into another, slightly larger, interior space. Space is being condensed. Architecture is condensing.

On page 9 of Wolf’s “”You are now entering the Entertainment Zone” he argues that movies in multiplexes having multiple showings make it more of a destination. I strongly disagree. I was recently speaking to the developers of the Westcott Cinema renovation on Westcott Street in Syracuse and they talked about how previous film showings in the theater, there would be an average of 6 people a night over a course of 6 weeks seeing a movie. But, if they made one night only they would sell out and it becomes more of an event. I have to agree with this; if you make something into an event and there is limited time to see it, the audience feels as if they must see it when it’s out! But if something is always playing, you keep telling yourself, “ow, I’ll go next week” until it’s not in the theater anymore and then you say, “well, it’ll be out on DVD in a few weeks so I’ll just rent it”, and then you don’t rent it, but instead stumble upon it a few months later, or less, after its release on cable and say, “oh, I really wanted to see that” and so you finally watch it. Just in my lifetime I have seen films go from taking nearly 1-2 years to go from the theater to the video store and now some movies are still in the theater when the movie is being release in video stores. Because entertainment can be accessed closer and closer to the individual and less and less movement and interaction needs to happen the individual is not going out. The novelty of seeing a movie on the big screen has lost all effect, because now, it seems that the benefits of home theater out weigh those of public theater. The quality at home is better, you can watch when you want, and you can pause and rewind at any moment and now we live in a society of people who use DVR and Pay-Per-View.

My point is that Wolf’s argument for the mega-mall is precisely mine against it. I think the true part of the megamall is more what Rubin, Gorman and Lawry were saying about having multiple amenities in one location. That is the benefit people are seeking by going to UEC’s. It is not quite about novelty anymore, especially when the same chain stores appear in every mall. It is more about the convenience of everything under one roof and I think most places realize that, because they are capitalizing not solely on forgotten novelty items but rather on new novelties surrounded by reassuring stores in one convenient location. Wolf finally gets at the point when he mentions the aspect of the recreation of the small town. People want to revert back to the small town, but now it is on the scale of suburbia.

UECs

2008-03-23T21:10:00.002-04:00

This weeks readings focused on UECs (Urban Entertainment Center) and all three authors go into detail describing them. While reading the articles, it seemed to me that the UECs are basically the ultimate destination center for people and that it is the main attractions center in a certain area. The UECs are places such as the Mall Of America, Destiny USA, South China Mall, and all the mega malls that have 50 million square feet (exaggerating of course) are the types of places which are UECs. They have multiple functions along with retail stores as they include things such as bowling alleys, water parks, roller coasters, and etc. Cities such as Shanghai, Las Vegas, and NYC are UECs in a much bigger context because they contain a variety of entertainment centers such as casinos, clubs, bars, retail stores, restaurants, and all the other stuff that makes people want to come to these cities. Also, the skyscrapers and lights all around also help bring in people as well. People behind the UECs are the architects, developers, and the entertainment retailers, are what makes the UECs successful in its own way.

I don't have a television

2008-03-23T20:24:00.002-04:00

“More and more, if you are looking for common ground with family or colleagues, it will be in a shared entertainment experience…” (Wolf 38)

In “The Entertainment Economy” Wolf touches on how this growing portion of our economy has altered our means of relating to each other. One of the reasons people form relationships is through shared interests. Wolf states that “entertainment products put the mass audience on the same wavelength and, while engaging the emotions, they replace the sense of shared community that is disappearing in regular life” (38). It seems that because of everyone’s shared interest in entertainment, that particular economy has been able to infiltrate every part of, at least, the middle class American world. Supposedly, all of us can find common ground through our desire for entertainment.

He talks about the “daily grid,” in which we have slots of time that are dedicated to certain activities. Checking in on news and other entertainment outlets, which now have a price and are definitely commodities, occupies our free time.(note) We enjoy this stuff and are drawn to it, but we also partake in entertainment in order to talk about it with other people.

Sharing entertainment with other people feels rewarding because we are having fun or relaxing with others, but are we also sacrificing something by paying for it? Has our mentality really shifted towards an increased need for entertainment? Perhaps. If so, what have we left behind? Wolf argues that we were more concerned with objects in the 80s and 90s. Entertainment has always been around, but in different forms and at different levels. This interest in entertainment products has only been exaggerated and pushed on by those who provide them and by our own desire for diversions to occupy our free time.

Note: Is there fun without spending money? I knew some kids a few years ago who had a dance party in the Abercrombie store at our very own Carousel Mall. Video:
abercrombie fun without money

PICK ME!

2008-03-23T17:54:00.002-04:00

Just open your eyes or should I say eyeballs and you’ll see advertisements and logos. From product placement to endorsements, companies are fighting for you; more specifically, for you to remember them. Just as companies fight for the best quality coffee beans or computer chips, they also fight for space in your mind. Companies know there is just so much we as consumer can remember and try to make sure there name, logo, product or slogan is remembered.

If we shift scales to UEC (urban entertainment centers) or even cites (Las Vegas, Orlando, New York) we see the same fight occurring. Where should I plan a vacation makes you think “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” or “Everything is bigger in Texas.” This fight for your memory has resulted into this entertainment bonanza. Everywhere you turn, from a local pizza shop to a UEC wants to become a household name. “Google it,” “Can I have a Kleenex.” Most corporations and destinations have changed or modified their names for this fight. KFC, fedEX, USPS, EPA, NBC, SU, CIA, LA, NYC, ATL…and so on.

The winner of this fight is the consumer. Remember when you had to pay for a email address? Well now you could get one for free with unlimited hard drive space. Wal-mart sells dvds and cds below the price they pay just to get you into the store.

The fight for a good public image has transformed into a fight for your attention and memory and there is no real reason why we should think this fight we be over anytime soon. It does make you wonder how far companies are willing to go and how hard are they going to have to fight?

There is no i in TEAM

2008-03-23T14:33:00.001-04:00

The UEC’s discussed in the Gotham article are another great example of the necessity of interdisciplinary cooperation. From what I gathered from the article, the developers and the entertainment companies are the two major players. The developers have the connections on the setup/building side of the equation and the entertainment companies handling the furnishing of the complex. The high level of communication that must take place for a project of this size to be successful is something that every project could learn from. Isn’t it true that the more minds you have working on one task, the more resolved the product will be? Interdisciplinary interaction between major industries, i.e. entertainment and development, is the future of urban renewal. It is true that people are moving out of cities to more suburban areas, but these UEC’s should be successful in bringing a vast majority of people back to the city for their free time. The idea that people will be traveling long distances to these UEC’s ads another level of interdisciplinary communication between the city the UEC inhabits as well as the surrounding cities from with the consumer base will be pulled. A UEC is basically a conglomeration of everything fun for every age group, and interesting enough to hold your attention for 3-5 hours and make you want to come back. How could any of this be possible without a thorough investigation into everything retail by a multitude of cooperating organizations all aiming at a common goal; creating an Urban Entertainment Complex. I feel every discipline can learn from the reoccurrence of interdisciplinary work in retail and architecture.

extreme entertainment

2008-03-23T14:23:00.000-04:00

The Urban Entertainment Center (UEC) is yet another parallel to Syracuse’s own Destiny USA. It’s interesting that this radical concept began in the early 90’s. When I visited places like Disney World as a child I was amazed by the surroundings that looked to me, like pages from popular Disney books and movies. Now it is interesting to read about the history of the UEC and the brains behind this forward thinking concept. When the article was written UEC’s were under development in 20 U.S. cities. At this rate it feels like one day every major city will at one level or another have its own Times Square. As a means of urban revitalization the UEC encompasses many aspects of a bustling city. It is advertisement, commercial, retail, and entertainment all in one. Bringing all of these aspects together is a logical and sustainable approach to design but branding these urban centers is a sour idea. What makes places like Time Square successful is it’s branding mix. Who wants to walk through a street corner and see that Nike has transcended the retail world to encompass restaurants, theatres, etc. If that were the case the UEC be reminiscent of a New Urbanist community. What the UEC has done is revolutionized the traditional town center by densifying touristy attractions. This radical concept is now popular culture and may one day be a standard building type in every major city. To highlight its success this typology should implement in all its UEC’s a diverse number of branding companies.

Step into the ZONE

2008-03-23T12:09:00.001-04:00

In contemporary society, the name of the game has almost completely become ENTERTAINMENT. The music industry, the sports industry, the film industry, television, and radio have taken over the free time of most American families and have become some of the world largest and influential companies. In a close second place are companies that thrive off of American consumerism and our obsession with shopping. So, it only makes sense to combine their efforts and create Disney World like locations where the occupant can spend money and be entertained at the same time. The goal of all retail chains has always been to keep the customer in the store for the maximum time and to keep them coming back for more. What better way to do this then to combine their favorite pop star, their favorite movie, or their favorite television show with the experience of shopping. In the article “Entertainment Returns to Gotham,” the authors make note of the soon to be established Sportscenter in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, this location is now known as ESPN ZONE and has flourished as an icon of the UEC that Rubin, Gorman, and Lawry have analyzed. The visitor can step into the studio of ESPN and witness, first hand, the filming of Sportscenter while they enjoy a burger or play basketball with their friends on the multiple indoor courts. Similar locations have developed all over the globe and are leading the industry of both consumerism and entertainment.

Sign of the Times

2008-03-23T08:46:00.000-04:00

The notion of history is one we generally associate with a linear timeline. But what happens when the worn-out, the defunct, the historical, is reincarnated in altered form? The manufactured authenticity of the festival marketplace raises questions concerning its placement within an existing context, both historically and physically. In either case, it is necessary to assimilate the object into an already existing framework – but does the newly-historical supplant the existing historic, or are both skewed?
It is useful to distinguish between this construction’s place both in context and in situ. The “fetishized authenticity” of the festival marketplace described by Goss might characterize a recreation of a model of the past in which, as described in Barbara Kirshenblatt Gimblett’s Destination Culture, “the object is a part that stands in a contiguous relation to an absent whole that may or may not be recreated.” In this case, the boundaries of the marketplace are called into question, because in essence the entire city and its history could become a backdrop for a single space, and hence be assigned a new meaning. In context, however, the festival marketplace, regardless of form, seems to feed on nostalgia gleaned from a multitude of sighs and “Oh, this brings me back [to way before I was born].”
And although I’m ashamed to admit it, Faneuil Hall is always the first place I go when showing visitors around Boston, and I almost can’t imagine a visit to the city without a trip to, or at least through, the “historical” space. While the marketplace may rely on a “sense of historic public life,” I think it serves a greater purpose in reinvigorating an area left by the historical wayside. History, in my opinion, is not what we remember, but what we choose not to forget.

Entertainment in a Box

2008-03-22T23:31:00.001-04:00

As large retail venues venture further and further away from relying on anchor stores to provide the stimulus for consumers to shop, festival marketplaces seem to be fueled by something the conventional mall is striving to capture, entertainment. Faneuil Hall in Boston is a perfect example of a marketplace which demonstrates “architectural openness [as] a metaphor for social inclusiveness” (Goss), while providing off the street entertainment with the attraction of exhibits, ethnic shows, specialty shops, and concerts. Interestingly enough Wolf quotes, “entertainment-not autos, not steel, not financial services- are fast becoming the driving wheel of the new world economy” (Wolf). While malls, restaurants, and museums attempt to gain popularity through the notion of providing ‘entertainment’, Wolf’s relation of entertainment to the auto and steel industry becomes seemingly important.

Throughout the years of technological innovation, both the automobile and steel industries have seen vast increases in production and profit due to the evolution of mass production. A direct comparison can be formed between the assembly line and the mass production of entertainment ventures such as the IMAX RIDEFILM. Originally developed as an amusement park ride/movie, IMAX has since “miniaturized the simulation theater into a 15-seat modular unit that fits into a 30-foot-by30-foot space that is less than 15 feet high” (Rubin). Evidently the entertainment industry has not strayed far from that of its predecessors, and it too has the capability of being mass produced, and used anywhere. The entertainment industry may very well be on its way to driving our ‘new world economy’ in that major retail venues all over the country desperately try to attract a certain amount of guests per day, while keeping them entertained long enough to perhaps buy a thing or two.

the thin defining line...

2008-03-22T22:51:00.000-04:00

What really sparked questioning for me this week was the article Entertainment Returns to Gotham. Urban entertainment centers seem to be a rapidly growing trend. According to Rubin, Gorman, and Lawry’s classifications and described characteristics, DestiNY is not a mall, but another urban entertainment center. Which leads me to question where do we draw lines between shopping malls and UECs?

Any promenade lined with shops can indeed be called a mall. But we do not classify Main Street USA at Disneyland a mall do we? From my view, DestiNY is not a mega mall, for I see a shopping mall to be a destination purely driven by shopping in stores, not by side attractions, water parks, night life, and marinas. DestiNY and other ‘mega malls’ like The South China Mall are actually UECs and should not have the label mall attached at all for these places have the draw of shops but are also largely and mainly drawing in consumers by ‘entertainment districts’ and attractions; they are larger than some towns and require interior transport by monorail or boat. DestiNY is so large in area that it even has its own zip code. Now how can places like that be labeled as a ‘mall’?

New Tools

2008-03-22T17:55:00.000-04:00

Culture inevitably transforms as entertainment pervades but will, “each culture adapt to it in its own way?” This is the point where architecture can be understood as a critical component of a society’s ability to adapt to new social forms and their constituent political and economic forces. All of the new institutions, entertainment injected contemporary life is dealt with by new spatial forms, influenced more or less by the intentions of designers. New development in every sense, ideally, should respond to shifts in lifestyles. Inherent in the reality of our changing lifestyles is the reality of changes in space. Entertainment can be understood as one of the driving force of spatial thinking. The agencies and tools with which we attempt to accommodate for these systems in flux are still in development. Rapid data collection and processing like urban sensing applications seem to be one source of the information required for contemporary design. It is important to recognize the functional possibilities which become opened with this new ability to collect data.

at around 9 minutes is an interesting application of tools which could be used to deal with the phenomena described in the Wolf essay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JlvIwn0C24

The Ethicalization of Entertainmentization

2008-03-22T17:44:00.002-04:00

“You don’t bring people half-way around the world to visit a zoo. You bring the zoo to them. San Diego is the perfect set. People already associate her beautiful city with animal attractions: San Diego Zoo, Sea World, San Diego Chargers...”
-Jurassic Park: The Lost World

With all the positive discussion of entertainment and 'fun' becoming the major economic driver of the world, I can't help but wish there was more distinction in what constitutes what one might call 'healthy' fun, as compared to 'degenerative' fun. Either can support a booming economy, but only one can improve the quality of life.

Degenerative fun, I believe, constitutes the majority of the entertainmentization that supports our economy today. This includes events like gambling, strip clubs, television, certain video games, 'leisure' shopping, NASCAR, and perhaps several other sports. I group these together saying that, for the most part, they all occupy time in a manner that not only doesn't improve one's life, but can actually detract from it. All of these have the potential for pretty awful addiction as well, and the results can be devastating. Gambling can bankrupt you, leisure shopping can lead you to rely on material goods for all of your life's satisfaction, television can occupy your time to the point where you're essentially hibernating in your free time, there are video games that desensitize you to truly gruesome violence and make it fun, and NASCAR is just generally wasteful of resources. Given, one can argue that all of these events have a positive social dimension that people are able to bond over and therefore that's positive, but people can bond and be social over just about anything, like um, squirrel slaughter.

On the side of what I would call 'healthy' fun, I would include a number of obvious items like exercise and visiting family for vacations, and some that can potentially overlap with the degenerative ones. Our generation is a visual generation, and there are television shows that are extremely educational, from National Geographic, to PBS Kids Shows (who didn't learn good moral values from Arthur?). I would even argue shows like 'The Daily Show' are healthy, in the respect that they are intelligently written and teach a lot about politics and the inherent problems with the global economy, just through a humorous lense. There are video games coming out these days, such as 'Spore', that are essentially going to be teaching Maya to kids in addition to the evolution of biology from single-celled organisms to entire galaxies. It's another product by Will Wright, maker of The Sims, which just so happened to be a factor for me (and others) deciding I was interested in designing architecture. More and more video games these days teach you wonderful things, from problem-solving to history without even making you think you're learning. Why? Because you're having fun. This is also how I felt visiting The Bodies exhibit while I was in Florida for break. The amount I learned from this visual, two hour excursion into the human body was equal to if not greater than everything I learned from a boring textbook in high school; and I had fun doing it.

This brings up the issue of the UEC, and how much more effective it is to bring fun events to people instead of making them travel. We prefer quicker doses of gratification and leisure, and it fits in our schedule easier. I'm now realizing in retrospect that over the course of doing the four readings for this week (in one session), I took eight different very short breaks, used up by youtube, facebook, guitar, and eating. How strange it is to think that 'eating' becomes thought of as a leisure activity purely because it's not spent doing 'productive' work, but merely fulfilling an instinct. Many of us in Architecture tend to think of sleeping the same way, and we can easily find ourselves feeling guilty for getting eight hours of sleep, thinking about the work that we could've gotten done if we had limited ourself to four. If we're considered a multitasking generation now, I'm frightened to think of the capabilities our children will have. Imagine no internet lag, never having to dial a phone number, never having to cook, everything activated by speech and simple hand gestures absolutely instantly...crazy stuff.

To see the future of computers, see here: http://www.perceptivepixel.com/

Movies and Missiles

2008-03-21T23:35:00.003-04:00

When the entertainment industry is framed as the replacement for endless military spending, it doesn't sound so bad. Indeed, as Michael J. Wolf (any relation to Michael J. Fox?) puts it, "the missile in the silo just sits there gathering dust. You make a movie, on the other hand, and you can potentially release it again and again" (6). To some degree, movies and missiles play the same social role; they are both there to keep us safe. The missile keeps us safe from communists and terrorists while the movie keeps us safe from the boredom created by the very lifestyle that the missile is forcibly defending.

But why is it that entertainment took over when stealth bombers were no longer quite as essential? When we are faced with all this supposed free time, why do we spend it watching TV and movies, surfing the net, and reading news about the latest governor's sexual exploits? We do not create. We don't even destroy. We just sit there. Picture yourself watching a movie with your friends in a nice living room, sitting on nice couches and pillows. No one is talking. Now imagine the TV isn't there. There you all are sitting on a nice couch in a nice room surrounded by people you supposedly like, and all of you (instead of interacting) are sitting perfectly still, staring contentedly at the same point in space (for two hours).

Increasingly, the old saying "All the world's a stage" is becoming far too literal. There are few spaces that can be taken at face value; life consists of manufactured experiences meant to recreate some other point in space and time. Destiny USA's re-creation of Tuscany is a case-in-point. Rather than intervene in downtown Syracuse and enrich its own history and urbanism, Congel decides it is better to implant not only Italian architectural pastiche, but an entire Italian village, potentially at the cost of downtown's revitalization. But at the end of the day, downtown is not entertaining. The only part that is currently successful (Armory Square) is so only because of its concentration of restaurants and bars, places of consumptive entertainment.

___tainment

2008-03-17T00:19:00.001-04:00

Hannigan, in “Shopertainment, Eatertainment, Edutainment,” looks at physical sites of consumption, targeting specifically, themed environments. In a sense, he focuses horizontally, looking at the different aspects of these particular spaces of consumption. We can look at these spaces in two related, but different ways: each environment is both different and the same. These themed environments try to be different from other places through an exaggeration of their articulation and by having a particular theme. Themed environments are different from one another and provide an escape from daily life because they are over-designed, so that the designer must infuse each detail with the theme or some kind of meaning. Perhaps they are the ultimate contemporary gesamtkunstwerk. The consumer goes to these places to be entertained by over-stimulation and by participating in a world that’s superficially different from their day-to-day life.

However, themed environments are also anesthetized and controlled. An over-arching concept for these environments involves McDonald’s operational model, which is described by “efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control (81).” Although searching for adventure and change, we are safe in these worlds, which run smoothly as calculated theatrical experiences. They must be safe so as to protect us from danger and to keep us happy. These themed environments (destination shopping malls, themed restaurants, and high-tech museums) aren’t places we go daily as consumers, so we enjoy our time spent there. So, in the end, after our visit, we can remember the ---tainment land as an exciting, entertaining experience, and, if we have the chance, enjoy it all over again, in the exact same way, when we return in the future.

cycle of death

2008-03-16T23:11:00.004-04:00

The Au Bonheur des Dames was a large department store that was overtaking other small businesses around the area and making them go broke and forcing them to close down or even move, as explained by Zola. The Au Bonheur des Dames spread like a virus and it closed everything around the area and basically killed off smaller businesses. The Au Bonheur des Dames hired hundreds of people and therefore help for the smaller businesses were limited because more opportunities were given at the Au Bonheur des Dames. It's ridiculous how much these things exist today and also is manipulating architecture.
Large chain stores such as Hollister are in competition with other brand name clothing companies such as Abercrombie and Fitch as well as American Eagle. These stores are all aimed towards the younger audience and has put other clothing companies aimed at younger people a thing of the past. Small brands such as Von Dutch, JNCO, and BOSS were all clothing companies aimed at younger people in the past but now Abercrombie&Fitch, Hollister, and American Eagle is now the new brand that has put other clothing companies broke or close to it. The architecture is affected as well because it's aimed towards a younger class. Hollister has that surfer feel to it and Abercrombie and A.E both have that beach house feel to it to appeal to younger audiences. It wouldn't suprise me if another clothing company int he future forces A&E,Hollister, and Abercrombie out of business. THerefore, ti's in big endless cycle of death.....for companies.

“America Runs on Dunkin”

2008-03-16T22:54:00.000-04:00

In Hannigan’s reading he exemplifies the influence “retailers as well as restaurateurs, arena and stadium managers and, increasingly educators and cultural institutions” hold in the everyday life of the consumer. With the pressing issue of traffic congestion starting mainly in the early 80’s, consumers began to look for other alternatives to shopping at large retail venues. To revive the image of shopping at a large venue, the retail industry responded through combining a foreign synthesis of entertainment and retail, adding a realm of ‘experience, or fantasy’ to a day of shopping. Equivalent to malls and town centers using entertainment as leverage, eateries around the country began to adopt a new typology: themed restaurants. Now the influence of entertainment has far surpassed solely retail stores, yet has spread too many different disciplines all trying to attract “a new breed of consumer”. Restaurants such as the Rain Forest Café, the Hard Rock Café, and Planet Hollywood all implemented the notion of themed eating, attempting to redefine the norm, as well as bring a “value-added component” to dining. As if themed dinners were not enough, many restaurants continued to improve their image by immersing themselves into the “celebrity-soaked, media-purveyed public life of America”.

The reading “Spatializing Commodity Chains” begins to distinguish between the many complexities associated with coffee as a major commodity worldwide. The author notes that “coffee offered to a guest in Tanzania is not the same commodity as that sipped in a food court in North America…” Coffee is proven to be a powerful, even seductive commodity worldwide, yet from nation to nation its image seems varying. Today, famous chef Rachael Ray can be seen and heard across the country raving about Dunkin Donuts and even going as far to say “America Runs on Dunkin”. It is without a question that marketing ploys such as the one used by Dunkin Donuts, exemplifies a by-product of earlier implementations of fame as a source of “entertainment” to lure in consumers.

The Public’s Not Complaining, Anyway…

2008-03-16T21:19:00.000-04:00

In reading the entirety of Au Bonheur des Dames, I found myself entranced in a powerful firsthand experience of the rise of the department store from nearly every perspective imaginable. From the very real eyes of both someone like Bourras trying to keep the ‘Arts and Crafts’ side of retail alive to someone like Mouret who’s a genuinely humane person despite the all-consuming nature of his retail machine and then with Denise in the middle of it all. Then to see the ‘idea’ of the department store ‘improved’, from adding new departments, to various forms of advertising, to architectural gestures, the entire experience was truly a treat.

Zola makes a very clear argument for the inevitability of the department store as the “natural evolution of trade” (191), highlighting both the positive and negative aspects of it but ultimately, through his protagonist Denise, makes it clear that ultimately it is the public that benefits from this new phenomenon:

“At one time, prices were set by fifty firms, now they’re made by four or five, which have brought them down because of the power of their capital and the strength of their customer. And so much for the general public, that’s all!” Denise, p. 191

Now of course this is before the kind of major outsourcing that companies like Wal*Mart use to achieve such low prices at the cost of people’s lives in other countries, but the basic principle of why department stores are positive for the public is explained. And the fact of the matter is, there’s strength in numbers, both in people and from a monetary investment standpoint. In Chapter 7 where Robineau goes into competition with Au Bonheur des Dames over umbrellas, lowering the prices over and over until neither is making a profit and the customers are in glee, you know Robineau is doomed from the start because of the collateral Au Bonheur des Dames has in their 27 other departments which can always make up for losses in one department. Robineau can’t.

It is a pity we don’t get to see more competition between Au Bonheur des Dames and Les Quatre Saisons (Bouthemont’s rival firm established after he is fired) and the Bon Marche, because there is true importance in those prices set by “four or five firms” and not just one, because as I discussed in a previous blog post, things get scary when only one place carries a product that everyone needs and they can charge whatever they please. I wonder, after Mouret drove Robineau’s umbrellas out of business, what became of his prices? Did he keep them low because he seems to have far more of a ‘heart’ than the Walton Family does, or did he immediately skyrocket the prices in order to make the greatest profit? Is there ever a profit level that one can just be content with and level prices once they reach that point? I don’t think so, as Mouret shoots for having Au Bonheur des Dames make 1,000,000 francs in a single day, for no particular reason other than to say that it happened, and when he finally achieves it he doesn’t seem to gain any real satisfaction.

Still, the money-making strategies Mouret employs are extremely interesting to witness, especially considering many of them are ‘introduced’ in this department store but are still used today. On pg. 234 during Au Bonheur des Dames’ first major sale, Mouret in a last minute stroke of retail genius commands his employees to disorganize the items to get people to travel the store more. This reminded me of something I had thought during Professor Lonsway’s presentation of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store where I wondered if everything is in sequential order and everyone knows where everything is, how does the store make any unexpected sales? Mouret’s strategy of moving key items to unexpected spots—forcing the customer to pass through items they may never have seen before—is what I considered to be the alternative, but of course there is a limit to how ‘disorganized’ a place can be before the customer just gets angry. I find this strategy is used often with Wegman’s in Dewitt, as every time I go grocery shopping products seemed to be moved. Of course if its frozen it’s still in a freezer and if it’s cereal it’s still in the cereal aisle, but little movements from the last place I remembered them do in fact cause me to pass by something I didn’t even know they sold and on occasion, decide to try it out.

Also, practical humanitarianism, a concept discussed at length in Chapter 10, is something I find to be missing in today’s major chains. Mouret makes an effort to keep his employees healthy and happy, knowing that this will effect their ability and desire to sell products. When Denise becomes Buyer, she even plays a hand in helping Lhomme on pg. 349 set up an entire orchestra using only the staff of the Au Bonheur des Dames. Then various classes and a library are even set up purely for the enjoyment and education of the employees. Reading this, I couldn’t help but wonder how much more attractive a retail job might be if you knew that Target would give you free classes in Japanese or provide you with a wonderful retirement and pension plan (most contemporary department stores make every effort to keep their employees part-time such ‘luxuries’ are never required). In any case, it seems to be a wonderful concept of bonding to bring employees together in settings outside of their immediate professions. It makes me think of the Warehouse Architecture Theater, which Danton and I founded on that very idea that the architecture students who get accepted to Syracuse University have many talents that reach far beyond architecture and it’s a pity to let them go to waste just because we’re now in ‘Architecture’ and have to be ‘Architects’ and nothing else…

On a last note to this ever-long blog post, I found the ending of the book to be rather anti-climatic. To anyone else who read the entire book, I pose the question why did Zola end his story this way? It seemed like the majority of the story was about Au Bonheur des Dames and how it affects everyone in Denise’s world. Why then introduce a ‘love’ story between Denise and Mouret that doesn’t amount to anything yet plagues the last third of the book? For Denise to leave the Au Bonheur des Dames after ‘conquering’ it would seem an act of defiance—and that would have been a fine ending commenting on her ability to remain independent even after all she’s been through—so why end the story with Mouret reacting to Denise’s admittance of love by saying he is going to drag her back after her vacation. I’m rambling, but really, WHY?

Socially Local/ Geographically Local?

2008-03-16T19:57:00.001-04:00

“I calculate that there’s a reductions of at least fifteen percent on their list prices compared to ours…This is what’s killing small business” (Zola 190)

That quote was written in a book first published in 1883. Robineau was furious about how even when he tried to buy big and help the small businesses fight Au Bonheur Des Dames he still could not do it. I was recently in Hawaii and I was floored to find that nearly every restaurant or store that I went to on the island of Oahu had listed somewhere in its advertising at least one other location, most of which were locales not even in the state of Hawaii. It seems as if every attempt I made at finding the local Hawaiian shop, market or eatery was a failed one. Even in a place known as the International Marketplace, in which several individual merchants can sell goods, I saw several iterations of the same shops in the form of several different kiosks in the same marketplace. This is still present today not only in Hawaii but in case studies of our own work. When we analyzed the Mall of America and the Golden Resources Mall we found cases in which some of the same stores were repeated over and over throughout the mall. When I first started noticing this occurance I was concerned about issues of locality being lost and about individuality of stores being jeopardized.

However, If you look closer you can see that what has occurred is a change of scale. Scale is not always just about physical size, but also about impact and growth. In 1883, the automobile did not even exist and wouldn’t for nearly another ten years. In 1883, the airplane was nearly 20 years from being birthed in Kitty Hawk, South Carolina. The point is that in 1883, the radius from which the average individual traveled from there home was very small and now we are a much more global society. Ancestry magazine, Volume 25, Number 6, in an article entitled, “A Moveable Feat” discusses the mobility of people from the past to today and their willingness to travel. The author, Beau Sharbrough writes that “In fine weather, a horse- or mule-drawn wagon could cover 30 miles a day.” To put this in perspective the bus route from the warehouse and back to college place six times is 30 miles. Less than three trips around Lake Onondaga is roughly 30 miles. Or better yet, a drive from the warehouse to Fayetteville Towne Center and back to the Warehouse is 20 miles.
So, if you want to go to Target today, it will take you only 10 to 15 minutes to get there and roughly the same amount of time to get back. That distance was nearly a day’s trip before automobiles existed. Would you have taken the same journey to Target if it took a day to get there? Or would you instead walk to Armory Square from the warehouse and attempt to find a similar item that you needed there?

My point is that when the scale of the way the world travels from location to location changes, it drastically changes the idea of the local store. Target is very much a local store if we defined local as the regional draw of individuals to a specific location or when it takes a reasonable amount of time to get to a location. In fact, it is reassuring to know that if I move to another town, I still have a “local” Target and I know what to expect and in some cases, I may already know where in the store the goods I want are located.

Because we live in a global society, the concept of local has changed. It needs to be redefined, or perhaps we need to stop thinking that “socially local” stores need to exist as “geographical local” stores. In the past local identity made stores recognizable to the citizens inhabiting the town in which the store was located. That local identity has now become a brand, or trademark, or a red and white bulleye. “Local” no longer exists as anything more than a simple geographical marker and it should no longer be confused with anything else.

the dueling department stores

2008-03-16T19:02:00.001-04:00

The story of the dueling department stores in, Au Bonheur des Dames, shows us how big business has traditionally put craftsmen to rest. The once vibrant street of the locally run store is now at the mercy of Au Bonheur des Dames expansion, which is literally taking over the garment district. Baudu, a local garment shop, is feeling the frustration of trying to keep up with its rival department store. When it comes to selling Mouret is on top of his game. “ Whenever Au Bonheur des Dames creates a new department store, more of the small shops around it collapse” (215). For Mouret, every considerable detail must be touched upon. The department store is personified as a living being brought to life by the hundreds of people it employs. His store portrays the highest in quality and fashion, which is why Baudu must struggle to stay in the game. Au Bonheur des Dames has proven to be a force within the community and many of the local businesses are left in its dust. As crowds of women swoon to the elaborate displays, fanciful fabrics and intelligent architecture they become trapped by Mouret’s spell. “He wanted to make her a queen in his house and he had built this temple so that he could have her at his mercy.” (231) Baudu sluggishly puts up a fight. Loosing both customers and employees to Mouret’s mega store, Baudu is an example of how big business has exhausted small businesses. This story is a parallel to Congel's mega-mall in Syracuse. The proposal for Destiny USA plans to relocate 29 private businesses to make room for the Carousel Center expansion. The local shop owners, known as the Salina 29, feel they are not being paid properly for the relocation so they are standing their ground. This is an example of how big business is taking over, and small businesses like Baudu’s is struggling to keep up. It is evident that size demonstrates power and prominent figures will use their buildings as a power tool. As long as this trend keeps up the mom-n-pop shops will continue to be a thing of the past.

Identity Crisis

2008-03-16T17:53:00.003-04:00

My first intellectual impulse to explain the urge to theme all aspects of life is to say that it is a lack of cultural identity that gives birth to the dishonest pastiche of themed environments that both define and suck the life from American culture. But the successful spread of American behemoths like McDonald's throughout Europe and the world and the new phenomenon of China's literal themed-cities would serve to discount that argument, given that Europe and China both have strongly entrenched cultural identities. Perhaps in China it makes some sort of sense; yes, they have a strong traditional culture, but it is entering a point of transition in its history whereby it is taking a leading role in shaping the world, emerging from its rural, dynastical past into a (sub)urban economy of corporations and consumption, where food and family is becoming replaced by money and entertainment as cultural currency. Naturally, its identity is being lost in this transformation. Also, in places like Africa and India, the same sort of phenomenon is occuring, where ancient societies and traditions find they no longer hold any relevance in the modern world, and when these past identities are still being clung onto, they are at the same time being watered-down, swallowed up in the machine of global modernization.

Without a strong cultural identity to hold onto, many people will swallow up whatever seductive image is offered to them. Particularly in American society where individualism is (ironically) the strongest commonly held ideal, it is damn near impossible for a singular identity to unite its purposefully diverse population. Basically, by embracing diversity we are failing to truly understand any one people's culture, satisfying ourselves with theme-park renditions of Venice and the Forbidden City à la Disney's EPCOT, always only scratching the surface of the true depth and beauty of an entire people's inherited history.

The "edutainment" factor in museums underscores this charlatanization of cultural (mis)understanding. In an attempt to draw bigger crowds and "educate" more people, museums are making their displays more theatrical, more fun at the cost of historical accuracy.

In my road trip down south this spring break I discovered the difference between seeing something and actually experiencing it. My friend does this thing called "waterfall hunting," where he tromps around the forests of South and North Carolina looking for cool waterfalls (ideally with fun water-slides) that no one knows about. He is in it for the experience, the discovery, the more intimate knowledge of a nearby wilderness. It is not a touristic endeavor to simply see "the Southeasts's tallest waterfall" and bring home the memories in pictures and souvenirs, but to find the hidden beauty of nature and allow an unexpected, uncontolled, unpredictable, inefficient experience to infinitely enrich his non-standardized life.

Supplyin' Demand

2008-03-16T13:45:00.001-04:00

“Although retail is the link between manufacturers and consumers, retailers treat the commercial logic of supply as quite separate from the symbolic representation of goods to the public.”

With the proliferation of big box working-class shopping havens such as Walmart or Target, the logic of supply becomes a means of representing goods. The Target “box,” essentially a warehouse, represents its goods much like any well-organized stockroom would. Despite its slogan (“Expect More, Pay Less”), customers have learned to expect nothing more than what they are presented with. In this example, the symbolic representation of commodities has been sacrificed (or has adapted) in favor of a literal representation of the source of Target’s low prices – in other words, mass production discounts made evident by the sheer volume of merchandise displayed on the store’s shelves.
The convergence of the systems of portrayal and the mechanisms of supply is symptomatic of what Hannigan refers to as the “McDonaldization of society.” Efficiency (stockroom layout), calculability ( % savings), predictability (mass production), and control (the product of the above three, which allows the big box store to function smoothly with only low-level employees at the helm) are the four pillars Hannigan mentions as supporting the operational model of McDonalds, or any similar establishment. On the flip side, boutique stores, which thrive on personal interaction and celebrity treatment, conceal much of their merchandise behind closed doors, thereby widening the gap between visible supply and representation of demand for that supply – a kind of commercial legerdemain, which tries to justify higher prices through exclusivity.

The Real Life Fantasias

2008-03-10T11:54:00.000-04:00

Themes are fantasy, therefore themes are successful. They act as a lure to draw in people to escape the mundane of reality and allow people to experience their childhood and or current dreams. They allow you for a moment to escape the place you are presently and teleport you psychologically to a different place and or time. Growing up in Southern California, there was always so much going on, but what got your attention was the branding, the package, the new theme, the commodity that was different and unheard of; that is what drew me in as a patron. Living there you had so much to choose from that you needed a deciding factor, a draw in, and personally when stuck on a decision, a ‘theme’ did it.

There is a lot of current and literally ‘concrete’ proof that themes work and sell. Las Vegas for example is a city of themes. As a visitor, I could choose for a weekend to transport myself to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Luxor in Egypt, the Middle East, the South Seas, to a circus carnival, Venice, Paris, New York City, Hollywood, or even back in time to the Middle Ages. What other draw and reason is there to travel to the middle of nowhere in a desert if it was not for the entertainment of the theme? This is not to argue that just because a restaurant, park, shopping center, hotel, or any other space of occupation is themed that it will automatically be successful, for this is definitely not the case, there is a science. To me, that is really interesting, the actual science and psychology that is behind the themes that keeps these fantasies alive and keep people, like myself, coming back for more.

Consumerism, the root of all that is bad

2008-03-03T00:16:00.001-05:00

Consumerism, it has existed throughout time and still exists today. As long as there are human beings on this Earth, there will be consumerism. Eventually, we will consume all and everything that there will be nothing left to consume and all that we are left with is nothing. Bauman goes into that idea and compares consumption with destruction and dismantling. An example of this is gas. As we consume more and more gas for our everyday tasks, we begin to destroy the Earth and deplete the Earth of Earth even further. We have all been effected by skyrocketing oil prices and we all know the reasoning behind it, consumerism. In malls, consumerism also plays a major role because it’s always “out with the old and in with the new.” Everybody wants to buy the newest ipod or the newest fashion trends and the old items that were originally there are thrown out and obsolete.
We realize that consumerism is bad but we don’t really react until it is too late. Global warming, oil depletion, recycling to reduce pollution, are just some of the crisis we face today and this all rooted from consumerism. Eventually we are all going to consume everything until there is nothing left but each other. Then what happens next?

Consumption: fad...?

2008-03-02T22:24:00.001-05:00

“From the work ethic to the aesthetic of consumption” brought up some interesting points about what it means to be a consumer, what it takes to be a consumer, how we consume and the interaction between consumers. As anyone can realize from their own interactions with products, consuming is a purely personal decision. “Consumption is a thoroughly individual, solitary, and in the end lonely activity; an activity which is fulfilled by quenching and arousing, assuaging and shipping up a desire which is always a private, and not easily communicable sensation” (p.30). Choosing what you want to consume depends upon your own personal judgment of the products worth. Anyone can go and consume any product they want at any time (granted there are limitations such as price but these will be ignored). Although consumption is such a personal experience, it seems that all people consume in groups. Whether you are eating, shopping, going somewhere; you will usually do it in a group. The article talks about how, when in a group, it seems that everyone is just “copy-cating” the rest of crowd. This is what companies must realize and I’m sure they do. Although being a consumer is personal, trends are still a very popular way to base your personal judgments. Various “fads” have come and gone, and all they while each company made their fare share of the American consumer’s money. This also speaks to the attributes of consumption. People want their products fast, they want their products popular, and as soon as they consume them they want to forget and move on. The producer/consumer game is what drives our economy and what makes retail so successful. Although consumption may be singular, there are any number of subliminal factors affecting the way a consumer asses a given product.

Are we a virus?

2008-03-02T21:48:00.003-05:00

“I'd like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species, and I realized that humans are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. The only way for you to survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern... a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer on this planet, you are a plague, and we... are the cure.”
- Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith in The Matrix

I found this quote amusing not only in reference to Zygmunt Bauman but also the other readings. When the question of consumerist society arose in all these readings and how to defined it, I personally found this reference the most valuable. It matches very nicely with what Bauman stated on page 23 of Work, Consumerism, and The New Poor From the Work Ethic to the Aesthetic of Consumption, ”to consume also means to destroy. In the course of consumption, the consumed things cease to exist, literally or spiritually. Either they are ‘used up’ physically to the point of complete annihilation, such as when things are eaten or worn out, or they are stripped of their allure, no longer arouse or attract desire, and forfeit their capacity to satisfy one’s needs and wishes.” After doing these readings, what else needs to be said? Is the computer the cure as it is in the Matrix? Hoepfully it will not go that far. I also find it amusing that in that same film series, the designer of that program is called the architect. Actor Helmut Bakaitis stated “I am the Architect. I created the Matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not.” So as we look into the future via The Matrix, I find it amusing that we as architects will end up trying to save the world from over consumption. Is that what we are doing by taking this class? After all of our attempts as architects to alter consumerism, will we ultimately have to figure a way around it and simple take control without the mindless consumers even realizing it? How close or far from reality is this film?

building on spatial credit

2008-03-02T21:41:00.002-05:00

It is one thing to build the shell of the building and let the occupants design/decide what goes inside. Many American architects do this, especially for skyscrapers. It was the approach taken by Cook+Fox for the One Bryant Park tower, and it is not uncommon for a firm to refer to itself as "core and shell" architects.

But it is quite a different thing to build a structure without even knowing if it is to be inhabitated, and what's more, not caring if it is to be inhabited. The Chinese are building on spatial credit, consuming now what will be needed in the future. It is a flaw in statistical strategizing that they measure economic success by amount of built space, and a flaw in governing structure that that statistic is being manipulated through forced infaltion. But it is an interesting architectural strategy to simply put up the frame of a building for someone else to fill in (or not) and inhabit (or not).

I can't help but draw connections to the current condition of Syracuse - vacancy initiated not through choice and bureaucratic zeal but through abandonment and neglect - which is a city full of empty frames waiting to be filled up. Right now, there are many of these empty frames in Syracuse becoming re-inhabited: the Warehouse, the fabric of the near west-side, various infill buildings downtown being converted to housing, and (most famously) Armory Square. The city, having been deserted and forgotten, has turned into the coveted Tabula Rasa where any intervention is good intervention. What China is doing is constructing vacancy, simply skipping the golden age bit and skipping straight to revitalization. And this is nothing new. Historically, newly developing countries have been known for skipping a few crucial steps that their predecessors took so that they could advance faster and catch up/surpass those predecessors. Just as America's industrial machine quickly outpaced the rusting British industrial establishment, so has China's (sub)urban sprawl quickly surpassed the lazy American dream.

keeping architects busy

2008-03-02T18:23:00.001-05:00

The developments in Dongguan are such a waste of space. These 33 cities in Dongguan that are developed, yet empty, are startling. How does this happen? It seems that just by doing, by building, the developers and planners will make money. But how and why? These developments seem to be about creating the infrastructure so that business will come. Saskia Sassen’s lecture last semester about global networks and buildings serving as platforms for other processes rings true in this situation. The developers and architects in Dongguan use architecture and design, seemingly without considering the needs of the area, as a way to make money, to attract international business, and to supposedly modernize and benefit the economy of the region. This over-building and over-development anticipates the arrival of prosperity. The people in power dream big.

These empty cities remind me of a development in my hometown in Delaware, which isn’t on such a large scale. Some developers from Baltimore have been building up parts of the riverfront in downtown Wilmington as mixed-use, and devoting much of the space for upscale housing. Although designed with good intentions and certainly with my support, because it would be amazing for more of the city to be occupied, these developments haven’t yet created a community. Perhaps, in time pace will pick up. Developers build property that investors buy up, but don’t actually use. What I find quite ironic is that these investors dodge the marketing strategies and the architect’s forecasting of the atmosphere of these developments. The cute Rhino representations of these developments aren’t realized, as the apartments and condos, although owned by individuals, remain unoccupied.

It seems that consumption, for the very rich, also occurs on a larger scale. Those who can afford to buy up the newest properties proceed to let them remain unoccupied, and hopefully sell them later for a profit. The speed of development, the knowledge that the value of the area will continue to increase, seems to be an incentive to buy property and promotes the financial success of the developers. However, long-term implications seem to take the back-burner.

The ‘Bootable’ City

2008-03-02T16:52:00.003-05:00

This week’s readings highlight for me the temporal qualities of human production, from store-bought products, to violently large cities—and their changing roles in an era where rapid prototyping is breaching all scales. Bauman creates an excellent frame to analyze Smith’s ‘diary’ through, as he essentially equates the act of consumption with destruction. Thus we consider the act of consuming on a small scale, where in an effort to increase the capacity of consumption, consumers must never be allowed to rest and are constantly exposed to new temptations, thereby convincing them to throw out their old product and buy the latest version.

So what are the consequences of that mentality? Well if that mentality was present in the 1850’s (as it was to a degree), it might mean buying a pretty new chair and throwing out your old one. Or maybe you give that old chair away. Or maybe you break the wood apart and use the raw materials to create something new: perhaps a desk. Now though, in an age of heavy and specialized electronic, what happens when you buy a new computer to replace your 6 year old one? Do you give it away? …Who really wants it? Can you use the parts to build something new? …No, they’re all completely obsolete. So what can you do but throw it out? And goodness knows there’s a hell of a lot more embodied energy in that conglomeration of microchips than there could be in any chair, wooden or otherwise. When you get a chance, you should watch the Story of Stuff to see a simplified but accurate explanation of where your stuff goes when you throw it out.

Now, take that temporality up another level to not only a product, but a place, like Dongguan. A place where architects spend not years or months, but days designing new buildings, where the developer needs that construction plan yesterday, where companies with twenty year contracts have the potential to make more money building new factories in new cheap places than continuing to use their old ones. Thus we find ourselves with enormous investments in physical matter and spatial constructions being completely abandoned. And it’s beyond that, even to the point where the new constructions in the Beautiful City are “vacant most of the time”. Yet money is still being made! Thinking of Destiny, I laugh at such propositions as a hotel that would comfortably hold the population of Syracuse, or ten Broadway-Style Theaters when it costs Syracuse Stage roughly four million dollars a year to stay in business. Yet despite the ‘vacancy’ such a project would inevitably find itself housing, I have no doubt it could still turn a profit. The problems simply remains that there’s an enormous waste of resources taking place.

So what’s the solution?

Bauman also discussing the importance of instant satisfaction to a consumer. Ironically, on the small scale, this trend is actually moving us towards a less ‘physically’ wasteful society, as now people are more likely to download songs instead of buying the CD, downloading applications instead of buying them, and soon we’re even reaching a point where e-books may be more often sold than real books. The advantage? They’re infinitely reproducible and use only as many resources as it takes to download the file. So how does that transfer to the city?

Well...

Maybe the future is living in your little house or apartment but working in a virtual ‘SimCity’-like environment, where the ENTIRE CITY is actually digital. No need for developers to construct a real city and make people come there for jobs. Instead of getting a job in noisy, busy, three-hour-commute Boston, you get offered a job in Chiptown, an eight second commute located at www.SimulatedWorld.com/Chiptown/Architectural_Firms/Timo&Pock/Cubicle0068.html.

Conferences, collaboration, and client meetings could all be done online. No need to leave the comfort of your own home, no need to get dressed below what your webcam will show, no need for gas, no worries about traffic, no excuse to be late, no need to EVER SPEAK TO ANYONE IN PERSON EVER AGAIN.

Chew on that for a while, and tell me what kind of funky aftertaste it leaves in your mouth…

extended editions, director's cuts, and limited editions

2008-03-02T14:02:00.000-05:00

The consumer society highlighted in Zygment Bauman’s, “From the Work Ethic to the Aesthetic of Consumption,” the consumer is seen as having an endless capacity to consume. The time allowed for consumption is constantly forced smaller and smaller as they are constantly introduced to new and better temptations.

Instead of being exposed to only one of a certain product over a long period of time, the consumer has a constant supply of product upgrades and improvements that are forced upon them. Looking at just one product, the DVD, evidence of this is all too prevalent. Gone are the days where a movie was released in but one format, and with the same amount of discs and content. Today the consumers desire to consume is filled with an endless possibility of purchases. The standard release arrives first, followed by an extended cut, a 2-disc release, an unrated version, and then the director’s cut, and so on. Years later a Limited Edition version is pushed upon the consumer, and the box set, which is a “must have” for any true fan of the movie. In order to fill the gaps between the consumer’s purchases, more and more products are being produced in order to create a desire to consume that had never existed.

The jump from the previous producer society, to the consumer society of today is a direct result for the increased desire to constantly keep consuming.

The next best thing

2008-03-02T13:30:00.001-05:00

I want to concentrate my discussion towards that the Bauman article. “Boredom is one complaint the consumer world has no room for and the consumer culture set out to eradicate it.” Reading on; “to alleviate boredom one needs money” (41). This explains more about consumption than Heilbroner’s social formation, specific behavioral and attitudinal characteristics ever could. I think then paralleling this to a New York Times Magazine article I read about I-phones will help emphasize my point. That article mentions how it isn’t about what’s new but what’s next. Once the I-phone came out people cared more about what the next thing will be than the I-phone itself.

Pretty much it comes down to why do we buy something? Why do we not buy something? It is these superficial forces which determine why a shopping center, a store or a product succeeds. It is also about the next best thing. In terms of shopping malls the next big thing, in terms of I-phones the next small thing.

This has me come to the conclusion that even though to us, [sophisticated designers] the un-architectural qualities of shopping malls seem important, in reality it is not, not even close. “The aesthetics of consumption now rules where the work ethic once ruled” (Bauman 32). Consumption is about aesthetics. It’s about being seen with the products you purchased. It’s about image. This idea of image is evident on multiply scales; from the tourist image of the developing Pearl River Delta cities, to the image of an individual company. DestiNY is no exception. It’s all about image and how it will not impact the environment and how it will be great for central New York.

It’s how DestiNY will be the next best thing.

Get Rich or Die Trying

2008-03-02T12:01:00.001-05:00

The city of Dongguan is configured as a series of satellite towns adapted from the Garden City model, which all surround a historic sector, “but each village is also…given an asset” (Smith,291). The notion of dispersing a city into fragments which all seem to revolve around a central historic core, yet each individual fragment receives an ‘asset’, becomes a fascinating way to promote wealth into an entire city. This closely relates to Bauman’s views on the aesthetic of consumption as he notes, “they [consumers] need to constantly be exposed to new temptations in order to be kept in a state of constantly seething, never wilting excitation and, indeed, in a state of suspicion and disaffection” (Bauman, 26). It becomes apparent that Dongguan uses the satellite, Garden City model, to not only disperse inhabitants of the city, but more importantly to keep the whole city economically active by not secluding certain areas, and seemingly making no one place more important than the next. Through this condition, every satellite is capable of ‘enticing’ consumers, which according to Bauman becomes the most important aspect of a consumer market. After realizing the continuity in the work of both Bauman and Smith, it becomes hard to ignore the effect Destiny USA will have on New York State, and America as whole. Could Destiny serve as a model for malls [cities] to come, or is Destiny just another ‘enticement’ in which consumers are supposed to be tempted for some time and then move on to the next? It is interesting to put Destiny on the level of Dongguan, because it not only becomes just another ‘asset’ to upstate New York, but internally creates a city of its own where a whole new level of temptations reveal themselves.

mega-o-sorous

2008-03-02T11:31:00.001-05:00

The reading gives us an architectural look into the developing city of Dongguan. The reading also shows us how lavish the people there are. Our tour guide takes us through the developing city and introduces us to the ‘men in charge. These men whom also happen to control the real estate seem to own the city as well. The era of economic hardship that once plagued the entire country is now experiencing an economic revolution that is bringing the region into the modern age. The city?s many new developments seem to be pushing Dongguan?s prosperity. Mr. Zhang, an architect and urban designer is portrayed as a man who seeks power through his built works. He tells us his plans for a new development called the Beautiful City Project. This enormous production of eye candy reminds us of Congel?s own Destiny USA. These mega-developers are conjuring up mega-productions to see mega-revenue. These characters have reinvented the way we think about urban design and master planning. It seems that pushing the envelope has come to mean bigger- and- bigger- and- bigger is better in architecture. But is this trend better, what happen to the time when less was more? Take for example, Louis Kahn and his minimalist approach to architecture. How would some of the modern architects react to today?s meg-o-sorous structures? The developers seem to think this is what we want. But when we hear that a plan for a shrine to the architect?s family is going to be apart of the agenda it makes me skeptical of the architect?s intentions. It seems more like these are the kinds of buildings they want. It is nice to push the envelope but not at the expense of good architecture. Is this Beautiful City Project in Dongguan a parallel of Destiny USA or is it a true example of the economic prosperity in China and is this really the direction architecture is headed?

What Happens in Dongguan, Stays in Dongguan

2008-03-02T11:09:00.001-05:00

“If you can make 1 dollar in Hong Kong, you can make 2 dollars in Dongguan.” In China’s globalized economy, any location is a good location for a factory or hotel, so long as land is cheap and competition can be minimized. An economy of speculation, which fuels Dongguan and Shenzhen’s roaring fires, makes use of land as a resource – outside the SEZ, with some land-owners holding only a 20-year lease, it makes sense to relocate every time this lease expires. Knowing that the value of the land will likely increase (and therefore, cost more money to re-lease), there is little incentive to build the necessary infrastructure to maintain and enhance development beyond a subsistence level. This tactic of economic slash and burn, followed by fields left fallow, makes a wasteland of cities. With no time for development, Dongguan and Shenzhen seem to be regions lacking centers – strangely, even a Google Earth search for these areas, which usually zooms to the city center or to a prominent building, in the case of Dongguan and Shenzhen centers on vacant lots or unfinished towers.

However, the potential for reassignment of program, or an evolution from user-driven design to program-driven design seems great. The almost viral quality of transitory habitation in these cities makes them perfect targets for reclamation, and the speculative economy of the Chinese “boom-town” guarantees that these cities will see a second life. Perhaps “spatial money” is a too loose a system to ensure lasting development of a city.

Rich vs Poor / Desire vs Need

2008-03-02T02:58:00.000-05:00

It is almost obvious that the most affluent countries of the modern world are made of a variety of consumers. The heart of a nation’s wealth is its ability to produce and accommodate an adequate amount of consumerism. What we are forgetting is that at the same time, the citizens of that nation must also produce a good or service in order to have money to consume. Our nation is beginning to slip away from the exporting side of the market and we are becoming a community of strict consumerism. We are slowly starting to rely on outside sources as our providers and we are beginning to lose control of the amount of money we need to spend to supply such an extreme amount of consumption. It is interesting to take the construction of malls as a case study for this market shift in which I am referring to. Countries such as Japan and China have become super powers in the global market. They have managed to take many jobs away from American citizens and they have become leaders in exportation while maintaining very little importation. So we could agree that countries such as these have primarily shifted towards producer side of the market. However, through our research of Asian shopping malls, we have found that cities such as Beijing and Hong Kong are one of the leading locations for mega malls and very large networks of consumer based real estate. By some means, they have managed to not only increase their production power, but they have also dramatically increased they consumption power and there fore have launched their economies into a new level of success. How is this possible? Why does the US seem to struggle in this aspect of economic balance? As Bauman speaks about in the later half of his essay, it all boils down to social classes and jobs. Many of the Asian countries we have mentions have a very large population base to work with. And more importantly, they have a very large gap between the upper class (consumers) and lower class (producers), allowing for this balance to remain intact.

society of sin

2008-03-01T20:04:00.001-05:00

If to consume is to destroy, then to say that every society in the world is in fact a consumer society actually means that they all are intern destructive societies. What is a paradox is that economic growth, the successful flourishing of a country, is dependant upon the consumers, or in other terms destructionists. We have turned into a corrupt society influenced in largely by aesthetics, not ethics. It is interesting that it takes a superficial- individualistic-dreamer to keep the monster of economics living and breathing. Does this mean our government relies on us, its people, to become in terms, a nation of self centered, destructive, superficial, and unethical people? Is this what we all need to become to keep out country running? Those who can not contribute to the negative to enhance the economy, the poor, are considered ‘blemishes’ and ‘inadequate’ to the consumer race. Why do we punish those who can not contribute to the ‘evil’ that is the consumer society? Does this then in some extreme way mean that building malls is a type of ‘sin’ as doing so purposely encourages the degeneration of society? There has to be a way to get back on the path of our predecessors and return to the producer society we once were instead of not changing the negative society that we have become.

faustian [short term gain for long term pain]

2008-03-01T18:15:00.000-05:00

Special economc zones [SEZ], experiments in capitalism whose invests spill over into neighboring states as population densities shift due to market cycles is an interesting condition. [Shenzen and its spillage in Dongguan] Risky, privatized investment in building post-industrialized conditions is stunning. Investments in infrastructural building; the open, blank, empty spaces, that promote future occupation and reclamation is a stunning condition in urban development. It is built “emptiness”, constantly in a state of change. Possibly Miami’s vacant condo development reminds me of this investment craze. How does a designer design for a state of constant change?

I am a bit confused if the architectural production in this condition of expediency is “image” based; one of tabula rasa, with a singular iconic vision and collective function or infrastructural; a framework for future development.?

Also, I don’t fully comprehend the “village to a city” development model where decentralized individual town leaders harness foreign investments to generate competition resulting in individual power and profits. How do investors profit when there is no guarantee. I don’t understand the "socialist market economy" either; “that became national policy in October 1992 and has accounted for the tenfold increase in China's gross national product from 1978 to 1994.” Privatization of state/public owned enterprises?

I presume more questions than discussions from this weeks readings.

completely off topic

2008-02-25T00:53:00.004-05:00

The application of science to shopping by Paco Underhill reiterates the specificity of our environments and the great possibilities empirical studies have in supporting the products of space making; i.e. architecture. This article supports the potentials of architecture as a discipline and its ability to establish systems of environments; whether subjectively good or bad. The obsessive quality of Paco’s work reminds me of intense research and development programs achieved in all industries including the military; DARPA, medical fields, automotive, aerospace, rapid manufacturing industries and entertainment. I would argue that the interiority of Paco’s studies is a model for the discipline of architecture. There is a dire need for architectural academics to pursue techniques of space generating and surface exploration utilizing our current digital tools and technologies. As a member of the service sector, architects provide clients with products that negotiate budget, context, form, etc… Martyr’s we are not.

science of shopping

2008-02-25T00:41:00.000-05:00

In Malcolm Gladwell’s The Science of Shopping, he explores what most do not know about a shopper’s mentality. It is interesting to discover that the tailored layouts of the department store, airport, and commercial façade have been rigorously analyzed. Gladwell also exposed the reason behind men and women’s shopping trend differs. This fact is thus mimicked in the layout of the retail mall. It is obvious why men and women’s fashions are allocated to different sides of the retail floor. Yet, it is now apparent why men and women differ in all aspects of the commercial realm. The eerie yet, useful way in which shopping has been studied is apparent through Gladwell’s writing. Who would have thought that video surveillance is used as a means to tap into the minds of unknowing consumers? It is interesting to find that the science behind shopping is calculated through the shopper’s unknowing mind.

the science of shopping: an architectural triumph!

2008-02-24T23:35:00.002-05:00

Paco investigates on the basis of rigorous empirical data how the spatiality of retail environments affects purchasing habits of consumers. Branding as a spatial sensorial concept versus purely signage is what separates highly successful retail companies from less successful ones. Polo Ralph Lauren is one of the successful retail companies mentioned not only in its ability brand itself but also in its ability to project a specific lifestyle onto the consumer. A lifestyle encourages the consumer not only to buy the dress pants, but the matching belt, socks, and earrings. In this case the store simulates a highly specific highly designed life. I found it interesting that behavorial analysis of consumer shopping patterns along with an architectural branding equally contribute to the construction of successful fashion houses. I wonder if Paco ever comes across new modes of display fostering unexpected ‘results’. Are there any retail design bloopers amidst that massive collection of shopping surveillance footage?

In response to Ians post….How is it productive to demonize market forces in a capitalist economy? As architects we are trained to design marketable products i.e. buildings/ chairs; our profession hinges on the consumer market.

Left....Right.....Straight.....who cares

2008-02-24T23:08:00.002-05:00

“One of the fundamental anxieties of the American consumer, after all, has always been that beneath the pleasure and the frivolity of the shopping experience runs an undercurrent of manipulation, and that anxiety has rarely seemed more justified than today” (Gladwell, part 3, p. 6).

It is reasonable to assume that the American consumer is always being observed. Whether it is the security guards, employees or security cameras there is an always present element of surveillance. These methods of surveillance are usually associated with finding customers who need help, customers who are in distress or to stop customers from stealing. This article brings to light another use for this surveillance; analysis. The fact that stores hire companies to “examine” their customers and the efficiency of their stores seems a little ridiculous to me. Thinking that you can analyze a customer to learn from their experiences and how they literally move through the store seems pointless. I guess there is a certain value to watching the customer but nothing is literally forcing you through the store. Gladwell brings up many instances of observation which Paco turns into his own type of “laws,” such as the right turn theory, the four zones of the department store and the decompression zone. I find it funny that someone has made money to analyze the way we move through stores. The only undercurrent of manipulation that I can see is where physical things are placed. If there is a wall in front of you, you will walk around it. If you put the better goods in the back of the store, the customer will want to venture deeper into the space. Doesn’t this research and analysis seem repetitive? Most of the key points in the analysis seem obvious. The interpretation of architectural decisions within a space seems much more valid that the interpretation of one customers movements. Design your store based on architectural principles, do not rely on people coming in to your space, taking an average of 15 ft to slow down and then turning right. What if someone decides to go left, is their experience of your store ruined…… I sure hope not. The placement of goods should be determined by the architecture, not by someone who analyze hours of film to determine lefts, rights and straights.

The Value of this Research is Tremendous...when the product is good

2008-02-24T22:37:00.001-05:00

For so long, the most intense marketing tactic I had known was that neon reds, greens, and yellows speed up your heart rate which then makes you want to move in and out of a place quicker. When viewing these colors you feel the need to be moving. This is apparently why nearly every fast food restaurant uses these colors as compared to every sit-down restaurant which typically use more subdued, pastel colors. After reading Gladwell’s descriptions of Paco Underhill’s creepily deep and accurate research, I could not help but think of the manipulation at hand. Yes, I agree with Greg, Gladwell did state that “people cannot be manipulated”. However, if this is truly the case, why does the retail business feel the need to hire individuals such as Underhill? Why do these retailers spend an absurd amount of money on obtaining this type of research? As much as I don’t want to admit it, and as much as I truly believe that I would never be manipulated by such nonsense as these marketing strategies, I am. We all are.

However, I think the important part of what we are discussing is ultimately that the final product is what wins the costumer. The key part of that coercion and manipulation however is simply. A former professor of mine, Carolyn Henry once stated in reference to employment, “Who you know gets you a job, what you know helps you keep the job.”

This same concept can be applied to this manipulation and coercion of people in the retail business. You can convince people to enter you store through clever marketing strategies, just as you may network your way into a job, but if you can’t ultimately back it up with actual products that live up to it, then all you clever marketing means nothing, just as if you have no skills in the work force, your employment at a great job will not last long.

Consumerist Pigs!!

2008-02-24T22:25:00.003-05:00

Paco is kind of creepy. But he's not alone. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of corporations doing exactly what he is doing; analyzing peoples' commercial behaviors and selling the results to "interested parties." He might end up like Victor Gruen, realizing at the end of his life that his fascinations and life's work inadvertantly helped to create a scar on the face of American culture, or he might not only be aware of what he is doing, but approving and enthusiastic of the effects. The fact that "the Science of Shopping" exists is certainly a testiment to our species' brutal efficiency and productivity, that not only do we have the productive capacity to create copius amounts of products that do not directly contribute to our survival, but we have massive groups of people that spend their entire lives analyzing how we can get people to desire and obtain larger and larger amounts of these everyday unnecessaries.

I've alluded to this in previous posts, but there is no small amount of irony in the fact that these corporations and retailers are slaves to their own system. They spend ridiculous amounts of money figuring out what consumers want, just so they can make ridiculous amounts of money in return. And for what? So they can in turn become the consumer themselves, buying every shiny, expensive, ultimately worthless thing - and I use that word deliberately - further perpetuating the cycle, producer and consumer all in one. At least that's the ideal. In reality, the real producers - the factory workers, the truck drivers, the janitors at the Polo Mansion - get paid barely enough to eat and feed their families, subjugated by the consumerist notions that reinforce their position in the lower class, and made to take the blame by the American Dream ideal that anyone who works hard can get wherever they want. If Consumerism is Capitalism's nearest offspring, it's high time he were sent to reform school. (How about that zinger?!)

To Buy or Not To Buy..

2008-02-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

Architecture has played an important role in the American shopping mall, through creating spaces to display its goods and services to the shopper. How do we interpret these spaces? How do we know which space to go in and buy from? I’ll tell you how; it’s all based on shopping trends which seem to be just as important as the malls architecture. Knowing how to attract the customer into your store is just as important as the architecture that surrounds it. After reading The Science of Shopping written by Malcolm Galdwell, we know that you need to have four zones in your store to assure that the customer will take the time to explore the store. These zones are the Decompression zone, the petting zone, the accessories zone, and the far wall/changing room zone. Each zone plays an important role in the transition from window shopper to shopper. The ideas of these zones are to shift the gears of the pedestrian. You want them to slow down so that they will be able to pick up the visual offerings that these stores display. When shoppers move to fast thru the mall they lose their focus and visual cues don’t work. When you create a Decompression zone you are allowing the customer to focus on what you are trying to sell. This gives the shopper the ability to change their mind set from just navigating through obstacles to looking for that special gift or new pair of jeans. Each of the other zones has a similar job which is to increase the time shoppers spend in the store, which may increase the chances of the shopper buying something. For example, in Carousel Mall a majority of the stores do not waste time with elaborate window displays of the items they sell. Instead they use other tactics like signage, advertising sales, clearances and buy one get one free offers. These advertisements are the new sales gimmicks that pull the shoppers in.

Walk right, not left

2008-02-24T21:54:00.000-05:00

According to Pace Underhill in, “The Science of Shopping,” it may seem that the American consumer has very little choice it the products they view first and the order they venture through the store. The tendency of the consumer to venture towards the right instead of to their left appears to be a phenomenon that is it of the hands of the consumer, and a fact that store owners can use to their advantage.

One must wonder if the typical consumer knew that they had these particular tendencies, to always enter a store and go right or the amount of time they tend to spend in a store, whether this would actually change the way in which they shop. Would the consumer choose to enter a store and go left instead of the typical right if they knew that they always entered a store and went right? Even in the supermarkets the consumer is forced to travel around the entire store if they want to buy their essentials, forced to look at many more products even if they think it is their choice to travel from dairy to produce to meat.

LETS PLAY MONOPOLY

2008-02-24T21:44:00.001-05:00

Sharon Zukin goes into discussion about Westchester County and its increase in size, jobs, and etc. due to corporations and malls expanding into Westchester’s post-industrial suburban landscape. He goes into detail about Westchester going into business by opening up more jobs and providing more opportunities to people who need jobs. However, the irony with this is that even though job opportunities are popping up here and there, the pay is still miniscule. People who live in Westchester and commute to NYC for work make a larger income than people who work in Westchester. So in a way, corporations in Westchester have successfully made it into a somewhat economic county, but on the flip side, the pay isn’t that great.
Westchester County exemplifies how corporations are a monopoly and don’t give little companies any room to breath and they barely get by. Companies such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are the leading corporations in the video gaming industry that such game consoles such as the Jaguar, Dreamcast, and 32X run out of business because larger corporations take up all the profits and run the other companies out of business. It seems as if the world is trying to go with this idea and basically run other companies out of business and make their own company the only one and the top one. To an extent, a little bit of competition is a good thing because it would force people to make better things, but at the same time, it could get out of hand and cause our whole economy to collapse back to the stone age. Who knows?

This is your mind telling you to buy that belt right NOW!!!

2008-02-24T21:17:00.003-05:00

The subconscious. It’s been superficially discussed since the French arcades and consequently our readings, but really becomes center stage after World War II and this week’s readings. Paco Underhill’s observations to me seem to be comparative to those of the 5^th Avenue’s advertisement industry where colors, repetition and Tony Schwartz’s sounds became the scientists of selling (Tony Schwartz is the creator of the ‘Daisy’ campaign ad). The idea of unconsciously taking over control of consumer’s minds would make any businessman salivate. And while it would be hard to argue that this idea was not successful then and is still not successful today, to make it the foundation of any business model would be a major oversight. Everyone knows the Head On, Head On, Head On commercials, but do you know anyone who’s bought it?

It is important to remember that “people cannot be manipulated” (Gladwell). They will act on their own terms and proceed under their own will. While they can be ‘coerced’ to do something they were not expecting to do or ‘convinced’ they need something they don’t, it does not translate into a successful business model. That coercion might be successful at first but it needs to be backed up with substance. A business’s “point of view” and “public image” is the closest thing to me of being the combination of advertisement and substance.

In the end the sellers must “conform to the desires of shoppers” (Gladwell 7).

reciprocity

2008-02-24T19:34:00.003-05:00

This week’s readings talk about power: who has power and how do they use it. Zukin describes Westchester County’s growth and development, which was planned and based on an upper middle class slant. Here, those in power have created developments that cater to higher socio-economic rungs, but are driven and operated by the working classes. There seems to be a general ‘look’ to the design of the infrastructure and business organizations that “hides the volatility of transnational corporate consolidation in a service economy (Zukin 177).” One social class is taking advantage of another, pushing them out to increase land values, while the business of Westchester County, because of the changing economy, is at odds. What will the new economic structure do to the design of this area? Apparently, the culture of the area has changed from a production-based economy to a consumption-based economy. The two groups that have a stake in this county will either become increasingly separate or will need to negotiate.

And in the end, the relationship between the two parties is reciprocal. Each influences the other. In the “Science of Shopping,” both parties are responsible for the physical designs of retail spaces. The shopper’s attributes affect the retail designer and the designer affects the shopper. Underhill’s studies don’t seem that scary to me. Sure we’re being watched and analyzed and stores are being designed to ‘capture’ us, but don’t we want to shop and don’t we want to find the items and goods that we like? And anyway, his analysis generalizes about groups of people and therefore, almost homogenizes the shopping experience. The look and feel of the store is based on market types (like with Calvin Klein, etc.), but the basic layout is similar. Sure, we have preferences and can be grouped into types; to sell as much as possible, companies market towards these types and design stores that take advantage of human nature. But we gladly fall into their retail wonderlands.

Corporate Leaders: Helping the World Stay Productive?

2008-02-24T19:15:00.002-05:00

Zukin’s discussion of Westchester County and the power held by corporate leaders raises a discussion on the pros and cons of our country essentially being led by the people who convince us to buy things, instead of say, politicians. Well actually, I suppose one could argue that politicians also fall into that category, as where are they without campaign contributions (buying them…) and ultimately, corporations. Poor Dennis Kucinich. Anyway, a lot of writing gets focused on the problems of corporate leaders “playing a disproportionate role in planning the future of the country” (164), but how about the positive aspects of it? Especially in this day and age of a software and computers, isn’t it ultimately a good thing that there’s primarily two operating systems out there (Windows and Mac) and not forty? Imagine how expensive it would be for smaller software companies to get anywhere if they had to recode everything to match that many operating systems. Personally, I like how things work.

Take design: yes, you have Autodesk out there controlling a major portion, but smaller companies like Bentley and Graphisoft are still able to compete and survive purely because software has reached a point where it can be developed with a small enough staff to still give you something the competition doesn’t as long as there’s people to come up with the ideas. A few companies, and healthy competition reigns. Too many companies (aka no ‘corporations’) and it’s just a thousand voices screaming to make a point or tell you to buy their product. Survival of the fittest narrows such companies down to a select few in our economic system, and it seems to work well.

Thus, consumers like choice, to an extent. While a straight monopoly is rarely a good thing (Ticketmaster can charge whatever the heck they want), it seems that having a few companies ‘in charge’ can help standardize an industry and ultimately make the world a more productive place.

Pawns......

2008-02-24T18:22:00.000-05:00

It is ironic that the general public of America believes that shopping is an experience that is catered to them. That they are in control. This is partially true as the rules and merchants bend to the consumer and organize themselves to benefit their sales, but it is interesting to learn the other side. The side of the complete manipulation and use of the customer as the merchant’s pawn in their game of sales. It is almost honestly creepy the intense studies of the consumer and how one can be typed down to the brand of razor used with the exact science behind it, which leads me to want to know my place among the sixty two shopping types and what products they would expect me to purchase and use. (It also leads me to wonder if I have been a study.) We obviously are not the ones in control anymore.

If merchants know how we function as consumers, why do some fail so miserably? Some retailers completely miss the mark and it is a wonder how they can with such readily available information. Do they not read the New Yorker?

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

2008-02-24T15:38:00.001-05:00

In Malcolm Gladwell’s article, The Science of Shopping, we can begin to see the space of shopping in a new light. The organization and planning that is embedded into the layout of a single store can be derived from countless hours of market research and experimentation. By carefully observing Paco Underhill in his daily routine and learning about his history, Gladwell highlights the almost dictator like circumstance created by the pairing of retail moguls such as GAP and Bannana Republic with planners like Paco and NBBJ. In the world of the retail developer, the consumer becomes a testing supply or a lab rat in which they can reorganize a maze of jeans and relocate the cheese in order to squeeze every last cent out of “the wallet,” as Underhill calls the buying figure. The studies of such firms not only analyze what can be considered the basics retail consumerism, such as target population or percentage of visitors to buyers, but they go as far as to analyze the interactions between a father-son shopping pair to a family of five shopping team. They instruct retail developers in the placement of goods and they characterize the shopper in classes on intent and classes of intelligence. They distinguish certain zones of the shopping space and derive specific rules and regulations that must be followed with the singular intent of capitalizing on the naive public of working citizens. Prior to reading this article I was aware that such analysis was present in the retail industry. However, I was not prepared to learn of the details that encompass what is seemingly an inexact and ruthless science. I found it hard to believe that such rules were determined by mere assumption and loose observation and more surprising was the fact that companies are paying what seems to be very large amount for what seems to be common sense.

On the other hand, I believe that the Underhill’s use of the video recording and his analysis of public movement can be a beneficial tool in the world of architecture. Through the study of human circulation and gathering trends, architects can produce spaces that are directly in response to human function and flow.

Terragni to the GAP

2008-02-24T14:26:00.001-05:00

The Danteum was designed by Giuseppe Terragni in 1938 as a series of rooms which together compose a ‘journey’ governed by both light and materiality. This journey draws to an end in a room representing fascist Italy containing monumental columns and seemingly no visible way of exiting the building. Like Terragni, large retail stores today aim to design stores to pull potential shoppers through towards the depth of the building, leading them to the most popular product and far away from the cash register. However, unlike Terragni, retailers across the country seem to cater to different sexes as a result of shopping patterns between men and women. While the Danteum represents an experience or journey, The Banana Republic in New York City aims to adapt parts of the store to the habits of male shoppers by placing shoes, socks, pants, and add-ons in close proximity to the cash register. Paco Underhill notes that today “people want to come in, be serviced, and go out” (12). It is quite possible that throughout the history of shopping, male shoppers have demonstrated this impatient behavior, but it is only recently that there has been a shift in the behavior of female shoppers. Today, Paco accounts that women seem to want their own answers, thus “women want to draw their own conclusions” (8). This observation is brought to fruition mainly by the study of make-up sales. In the past make-up was a product recommended or chosen for you. In present day, like most consumer products, make-ups are chosen by the buyer and then brought to the cash register and purchased. The “Science of Shopping” becomes interesting because its roots are seemingly grounded to historical architecture such as the Danteum, but also represent suburban movement across America as shopping centers “…are both public and privately owned, but for public use” (Zukin, 142), and account for much of the consummation of “culture” (Zukin,138) in the twentieth century.

Figures in the Field

2008-02-24T09:48:00.001-05:00

Storefront design in the mall setting affords interesting possibilities for an “autonomously contextual” architecture. On the one hand, constraints imposed by the physical limits of rented space and the homogeneity of required storefront appearance, such as maintaining a specified datum line or a particular type of signage, render the homogenization of the mall’s public space an exercise in syntax. These regulating elements are an architectural extrapolation of the “grammar” discussed in The Science of Shopping. And then there’s the prose. Each store (when it can) starts to indicate - in a level far beyond the sign placed above it ever could - the meaning contained within it. This might take the form of shop windows filled with merchandise, or even something like the Hollister display at Carousel, where an elaborate arrangement of shutters and palm trees makes me feel like I’m at the beach long before I even get near the store.
In this setting of contrast between language and meaning, syntax and semantics, the homogenization of signage and the expression of prose, the meaning of that signage is abstracted to the point where it can be considered another agent of bay regulation. However, when combined with the storefront, the result is a hybrid – a “decorated duck,” as it were, which exteriorizes its contents within a regulated frame.

retail Architects and urbanists, rather than retail developers

2008-02-23T17:45:00.001-05:00

The lessons of Underhill’s work, derived from invaluable cold empirical research, delivers new agency to designers and their clients. The information base required for a critical and creative endeavor has been laid, something comparable to the phenomenon of the emergence of the architect-mathematician-technician paradigm. As retail increasingly requires the input of these new professionals, transdisciplinary hybrids are born in response to new necessity. What is the work of these specialists?

Architecture’s ability to provide a different scale of analysis, and the ability to organize many scales of information can offer synthesis to the multiple forms of research. A new form of practice should involve the god’s eye view paired with literally grounded modes of analysis and expression. The specifics about regional conditions, information understood from maps and aerial photographs, are among the elements. Another is the anthropological dimension vis a vis Underhill. “Architectural documents” are also invaluable, perhaps the key mid scale, itself an accommodation of multiple scales. Firms like NBBJ deal with things like this, though I am skeptical of the extent that the urbanist’s scale is consulted. At the level of infrastructure, allowing a distinction of urban and suburban with an understanding of the future, designers might better understand the link between suburbanism and shopping, the individual.

“After all, what do we really know, in the end, about why people buy? We know about the Invariant Right and the Decompression Zone. We know to put destination items at the back and fashion
at the front, to treat male shoppers like small children, to respect the female derrière, and to put the socks between the cash/wrap and the men's pants. But this is grammar; it's not prose. It is enough. But it is not much.” (Gladwell 15).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2GfOhFZkY8

bookmark hyperlink

2008-02-21T15:58:00.002-05:00

erik maso and greg levy, bookmark hyperlink

file:///Users/erikmaso/Desktop/greg%20levy_erik%20maso/enmaso_philippines.html

copy/paste into browser

mega-mall theatrics

2008-02-18T03:32:00.001-05:00

Severini's depiction of the mall as a fantastical theater is a rare relationship. Yet,
this reference can be clearly seen when the mall is stripped of its inhabitants and
reduced to mere architectural detail. In our everyday lives one typically views the mall
as a consumer and rarely through an architectural lens. Severini depicts for us, the
theatrics of the mall in the absence of human life yet, shows the liveliness of the mall
through color, light, and ornament. In the absence of man the mall is still a lively
space. Spatially, the mall is its own world. The space is special because it is able to
break every role and preconception for it is completely separated from the outside world.
Severini makes this fascinatingly rare occurrence a practical one. The mall as both a
spatial object and as a playground for human interface is now inherently apparent. This
relationship is special for it has the ability to bring to life the seemingly debunked
spaces that coexist in a singular shell and comprises a magical world in which we have
come to define as a mall.

Seperating fantasy from reality

2008-02-18T00:38:00.001-05:00

The shopping mall is a place where reality does not exist. It makes us forget about all the other concerns or troubles we may have outside the mall. This is because the mall’s environment makes us forget these concerns and makes us focus on shopping. It hypnotizes us to shop, shop, and did I mention more shopping? The mall controls the environment inside from the designs, circulation, lights, even temperature. Kowinski goes into detail about these events and explains them becoming it’s own special world. So basically, when this was all complete, malls are like a Disney Land or a Universal Studios in that they create an alternate reality for us.

Projects such as Carousel Mall and the Meadowlands Xanadu are great examples to relate to. These two malls create a sense of stability, peace, and most importantly, excitement and fun when entering these malls. The temperature is just right, it’s not too cold or too hot, you see new people, and also there are many more things to do besides shop and eat. Examples of this are the Carousel or the movies in Carousel Mall or even the large indoor ski arena in Xanadu. Whatever mall it might be, the main goal for these malls is to get rid of the outside world and focus on the people inside and forcing them to shop. This is once again, another example of how consumerism rules the world and controls our minds.

Another mall, a new experience

2008-02-18T00:01:00.001-05:00

As defined by the Urban Land institute, a mall is “A group of architecturally unified commercial establishments built on a site which is planned, developed, owned and managed as an operating unit.” Unification and commercialization are the basis of malls all over the word. The goal of mall owners and developers is to have a “cookie cutter” system that will produce successful establishments all over the word. Kowinski’s article speaks of this controlled planning that is so successful in a mall. The environment is completely staged; the temperature, the lighting, the smells, the colors, what stores are inside. They create a world that is based on how people react to the spaces they are experiencing. Controlling the experience of the occupant is always a motive for architects. This experience is controlled through a “kit of parts” type of system. Every mall has certain defining aspects that have proven successful for not only business, but for positive feedback by customers to their experience of the space. These designed “fantasy” worlds are what make people so intrigued by malls. They excite us and encourage us to feel safe and at ease to spend our money. Getting trapped in this fantasy world is what has driven mall architecture to where it is today, DestinyUSA being the ultimate example. The new mega-malls popping up all over the world are literally using a “kit of parts” to create this new worlds. For instance the Tuscan Village that is in the design for part of Destiny. The developers know how to attract people and they have done it in the past and will continue to create these worlds that bring us in and encourage us to forget about everything else going on outside the interior.

A special new world

2008-02-17T21:22:00.000-05:00

The secret world of shopping malls is a special place. It is the only place you can go that will take your mind off the outside world. Shopping malls create a space which makes a person relax, open up to the environment and gives people a sense of trust. There are three ways to achieve this special space which has its own set of rules and its own reality. To achieve this special space you need to create an enclosure which will provide protection from the elements and remove all disruptions and distractions. “Those are its secrets, the keys to the kingdom, the whole mall game.”(Kowinski 61) this is how malls seek out and create their own identity and reality.
Most malls are made up of a few anchor stores and several small stores. These stores do not always seem to belong together because of the different types of goods they sell. On the other hand they seem to create a kind of harmony which becomes visible and begins to break the rules and preconceptions we are use to. This is how shopping malls separate themselves from the rest of reality. By removing all traces of time and the outside world the Shopping mall focuses your concentration on what’s going on inside. Once this is done you have created a space separate from the outside world, a special space that is defined by your rules and that is the goal of the shopping mall.

balancing integration and discontinuity

2008-02-17T21:06:00.000-05:00

The spiritual promise of the contemporary mall according to Zepp is made architectural at the central crossing of the two mall wings resulting in a circle. The formal similarity between the mall and places of worship can be made easily, but saying that they serve the same divine purpose for people is a radical claim that is not worth arguing in any academic manner because it relies on personal belief systems. What is more interesting is Zepp’s claim that the mathematical balance of the mall is a way of reinforcing that the world is ultimately safe. I think this is definitely an attractive asset that the mall has to offer urbanites and suburbanites. The atmosphere is highly regulated from the shiny polished floors, to the air conditioned corridors and shops, to the smells of cinnabon starbucks and aunt annies, to specific circulation routes. This highly regulated environment offers the consumer a sense of stability. Safety is almost always guaranteed as well being that malls typically are not accessible by public transportation therefore the lower class does not participate in these ‘sacred’ destinations.

Zepp seems to contradict himself when singing the praises of the mall. On one hand he argues the potential for the mall to be sacred because of its discontinuity from the ordinary world. On the other hand he argues that the mall attempts to make the world whole, to have it integrated, habitable, safe, and balanced. How does the mall make the world whole if it identifies itself as discontinuous from the ordinary world? Where is the integration in that? I think the mall attempts to be a micro utopian world in the sense that it offers all the goods and services of a city, but in a very clean, safe, timeless manner.

Need vs. Want

2008-02-17T21:02:00.003-05:00

I wholeheartedly understand the “center.”
I don’t understand the empowerment one gets from shopping and this happiness that Zepp says one leaves with.
I feel that from architecture.
I feel that from travel and real life experience.
I feel that from religion.
I don’t feel that from entertainment and the shopping experience.
Or do I? Personally, if I go to a “center” to see a stand-up comic or a sporting event, I am entertained and I guess I leave feeling happier and slightly empowered that I got to do something I wanted to do. Knowing I spent money on something I wanted when I could have spent money on something I needed does bother me, however.
But when you think of the average person as described by Zepp, it seems that spending money on life’s necessities bothers them the most. It seems that modern society is least centered when doing that. Why spend extravagantly on a hotel with a huge room and bed when all you need is a bed and maybe an enclosed space, and in some cases you don’t even really need that. This may be getting a little too basic and maybe I am criticizing humanity on the whole, but why do we find “centeredness” in things we want and disappointment in things we need. If true harmony is centeredness with nature, life, and whatever higher power you may or may not believe in, why have places in which you splurge and obtain wants rather than needs overtaken these other places in which you can center yourself? “The Center was originally understood to be where God and people and heaven and earth were connected.” (Zepp 38)

Wheatley showed “how order integrates space at several significant levels.” (Zepp 51)
While Zepp “want[s] to add to this list the order of shopping malls, a combination of the ceremonial and the ritual” (Zepp 51) I however want to then again remove shopping malls from this list. Need and want are extremely different. Cosmic, political, ceremonial, and ritual all either satisfy a need or give back order and have circle-esque influences on humankind. Does the mall really center us as humans on a deeper level than the literal centering of our physical bodies in a space? Do we ever really need to be centered within the mall? Why is the mall sacred. I want to hear that 670 people out of 1000 who were surveyed said they saw the mall as a sacred space. We, meaning an audience of scholars, are over thinking the simplicity in the reasoning of the average human. Is the average individual profoundly moved by malls?

I like Zepp’s counterpoint to my claim of course, that when “churches, schools, and families (our three major institutions) fail us, we will seek other places to fulfill basic human needs.” Is the mall really the first place that comes to mind? Really? I’m not so convinced. I want to see surveyed individuals, families, church-goers, students. No doubt, malls, especially the large tourist attractions such as the Mall of America, have research and filled out surveys numbering ridiculously high on why people come to their mall. Do tourists and travelers go because they want to see the biggest mall and then get lost? It is more than a physical connection? I understand the point made there, but only briefly does Zepp even touch on the actual mental connections between these types of spaces.

It is almost like Venturi argued about Las Vegas. Zepp states that visitors of Prestonwood Town Center often “say that the easiest way to make a date at Prestonwood is to say, ‘meet you at the clock.’” (Zepp 56) Are we meeting in a center space because of its architectural implications or are we meeting at a sign that is simply so large and recognizable that no one could get lost if they oriented themselves at it? If the clock were near an entrance space would that space be deemed the “social” center of the mall, even if it is not geometrically or geographically central? We begin to argue semantics about the actual space of the mall and inevitably we can post-rationalize that each mall has a center. Is it about the feeling of a center or the geometry? Zepp needs to decide this in his writings. If it is about both why does he argue with some examples that exemplify either geometry or the social and human aspect of a center. Is one inherent with the other?

Ultimately, I know I am raising a lot of questions that we may not be able to answer. But when I read Ira Zepp’s The New Religion of Urban America I had nothing but these questions. Does anyone have the answers?

miniciti

2008-02-17T20:17:00.001-05:00

So, if the center is the mall, what about the margins? Zepp talks about the mall as being a center for the people in local community. He also discusses how the physical organization of each mall typically has a center. For both, he presses the idea of the mall as fulfilling a community’s need for a center, which brings people together and provides an escape from the banal isolation of suburban life and therefore the creation of a ‘wholeness’ that one might gain from going to church on Sunday.

I’m uneasy with Zepp’s argument for the mall as a spiritual center. He definitely explains a different view of the mall as a place for centeredness, but it’s a kind of skewed understanding. Each of us has our own ‘world,’ our own geography, and there are different centers for different people. Perhaps I just don’t like the idea of one developer building a homogenous, anesthetized retail space, built primarily for the sale of goods as a new, community center. It makes the developer almost god-like (note Zepp’s other chapter on James Rouse) and cheapens the notion of spirituality and centeredness.

Every center has its opposition in the margin. And cities inevitably have multiple centers; smaller towns have maybe only one center (perhaps the local Wal-mart). Focus has obviously shifted to new types of retail/mixed-program organizations, but we can certainly do a comparison between the idea of the city center and the suburban mall. I think of Syracuse and it’s rather stuttering city center versus this new mini-city, Destiny USA, that’s being built a few miles away. It’s interesting to think about how and why these two constructs were developed. Both were built according to the needs of the community, the economy and social networks of the region. Lots of people own the city of Syracuse, each buying out plots of land in close proximity. One company, supported by other, global companies, owns Destiny. But as for social fulfillment or spiritual gratification, each is lacking. We still go to the mall, either talk to our friends or wander lonely and aimlessly, and get lost in the theater of retail, a real space/time entertainment.

House of Fantasy

2008-02-17T20:16:00.001-05:00

In Kowinski’s work he exemplifies the standard American mall as an autonomous selling device, capable of being a place far beyond a destination to purchase consumer goods, but more of a “special world” (61) where protection and seclusion become essential elements to success. Kowinski brings to fruition the notion that the standard mall seen in America contains a plan governed by local patterns, mathematics, and demographics, all developed long before the mall was even conceptualized. At first one may mistake this equation to work in any location or application, leaving architecture with little influence; however Kowinski makes it evident that the culmination of so many different efforts into one building is the exact reason why architecture is very much at work in the American mall. He notes “it has some interesting architectural touches, due perhaps to the relatively unusual conjunctions…” (59). With so many different programs all working as one autonomous device, architecture is responsible to evoke a sense of scale, provocative enough to initiate exploring, yet subtle enough to ensure safety and comfort. Zepp concludes that “the enclosure, combined with architectural balance, engenders the sense of safety many people claim they find in the mall” (51). It becomes evident that the mall is primarily about promoting comfort and safety so that shoppers can relax and become immersed in the environment, thus making them susceptible to advertisement and improving the chances of purchasing something. The shopping malls of America are truly a product of architecture deeply embedded within a strict plan developed to initiate profit, as well as promote safety and relaxation in a sort of “house of fantasy…separated from the outside world” (61).

The Shopping Mall after Dark

2008-02-17T20:09:00.000-05:00

In William Kowinski’s, “Secrets of the Shopping Mall,” he reveals another side of the mall that the everyday shopper never is allowed to experience. During business hours the mall is an energetic and highly lively atmosphere, with people occupying all of the general locales inside the shopping mall. The shoppers almost never gaze up at the grand architecture that occurs or the special moments that exist within the mall as they are distracted by the passing couple or crying child across the way. There is almost always some brightly lit sign or activity that draws the shopper away from the architecture and to the attraction.

It is when the mall is “turned off” for the night that observer is allowed to see the mall as it was built. Kowinski describes his experience as he “sat among the menagerie of mall rats, barflies, and potential duck terrorists,” the people who are given the chance to view the mall without distraction. It is during these night time moments that the mall’s “unity, preplanning, single and centralized management are most apparent.” Without the shoppers, one can see how similar all the stores in the mall are and it is their signs that may be the only separating factor.

Many people have experienced the closure of a mall, as they leave a movie that has ended past operating time, and the lack of shoppers is all too apparent. The closed mall feels almost unnatural, as it should be occupied at all times to feel comfortable. It is possible that it is the shoppers who make the mall what it is, and the daily commotion and activities are in place to distract from the unity and sameness present throughout most of the mall.

Thou Shalt Not Shop

2008-02-17T19:50:00.003-05:00

What does it say about American culture that some writers would contend that the mall is the place where Americans go to gather, to regain some center, and be a part of some bigger social order? I agree that spatially, malls have the potential to be quite nice. The designers of these things go to great pains to make sure its well lit, somewhat vegetated, and a place where people want to stay. So at night when no one is around to partake in the orgy of consumption, a mall can actually be quite a nice space, though still somewhat creepy in its desertedness. So if malls bring people together, provide a nice place to be, and provide a new institution for the social and spiritual well-being and interconnectedness of humanity, then what's the problem?

The answer is painfully obvious and ever-present in most people's mind when they shop. They know that the mall is not a true Garden of Eden, but simply a transient charm granted by our friend Mephistopheles, a charm for which he will collect dues. And we know this, when we center ourselves in these spaces, halfway between half-off jeans at JCPenny's after-Christmas clearance and half-off blouses at Kaufmann's New Year's sale and standing only yards away from Wendy's salads with half the calories. The soul can never be enlightened/soothed/centered while engaged in the inherently soulless act of material consumption.

But to be fair, people need clothes. What does it matter if they get them at a big department store or some small boutique? Furthermore, what does it matter if that store is in a mall or by itself? The answers to these questions (and a million like it) are numerous, complicated, and debatable. But the fact remains that there is something fundamentally wrong not necessarily with malls, but with the forces that created them. The malls in and of themselves are not a bad thing. It is the very reason for their existence, the position they hold in society, and the further effect they have had upon that society that is problematic. Maybe it's a loss of a sense of purpose that comes with further alienation from the natural world? Whatever it is, humanity cannot sustain its current attitude towards itself and its environment much longer.

Lions and Tiger and Bears, O MY!!!

2008-02-17T19:49:00.001-05:00

The correlation that Kowinski draws between the shopping mall and the stage of a theatrical production provides a very interesting view of what our retail world has progressed to in the past century. Just as the Broadway musical acts as an escape from the fast paced culture of New York City, the Mall offers a very similar affect. The lights go down, the music roars, the actors begin to dance, and suddenly you are taken away to a different world. Although the retail stage is not exciting in the same sense that a musical or drama production is, the mall can captivate you in ways that similarly drag you away and induce you into a fiasco of consumerism. As you enter the property you are drawn into the mundane procession of parking lot traffic that acts as your last relationship with the outside world and almost acts as a reminder to the more or less normalcy that your day to day routine encompasses. As you part you car and walk toward the entry you may feel a sense of excitement that is comparable to the fantasy reading or movie. The mystery that lies behind the door of the main promenade can leave you in suspense…What new electronic toy may I find, what pair of new shoes could I buy, or what friends will I run into? These all play a part in what Kowinski and the retail industry refer to as “The Retail Drama.” This theory of creating an atmosphere or “drama,” that induces the customer to lose touch with the reality of the outside world, can be seen in all malls and in all scales. In his primary example of the Greengate Mall, what we can consider a normal mall of scale and target customer, Kowinski frames the importance of the Christmas season and depicts the implementation of “The Retail Drama” at its most basic scale…the decoration. However, we can see this concept being used on a more serious and more permanent scale in malls such as The West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada. The design of this mall incorporates a retail drama with the use of numerous “themed” zones, including amusement parks, themed hotel stays, water rides, and much more. This idea creates a very dramatic affect within the space, where the customer can experience feelings similar to riding a roller coaster at their favorite amusement park, paired with their enjoyment of shopping…and ultimately forget that they are spending hard earned money in the process.

A Distant Center

2008-02-17T17:59:00.001-05:00

What’s a mall with no center? Does the volume of information emanating from the hub distort its responsibility as an agent of re-centering? Is the location of the center really a means of reorientation, or have we simply become so accustomed to the paradigm of the cruciform mall that we are unable to associate that kind of center with anything but, perhaps, the food court? More and more, a mall’s center is capable, through carefully-aimed visual, olfactory, and auditory barrage, of doing far more harm than it does good with regard to its responsibility to re-center on a cosmic level. Sure, the shape itself implies a kind of order and rightness, but what happens when we are unable to physically occupy the center of an atrium space – on an upper level, for example, all we can do is observe the contents of the center. The only remaining central space to occupy is the ground floor, which, for most of the year, is annexed by the mall in an attempt to create a new focal point – not the nothingness or sacred space as such a sublime form might dictate, but a spot for BIG THINGS – the space of the mall, once held as sacred by Gruen and only experienced when the need for things was strangely absent (after Southdale had closed its doors for the night), has been undermined in favor of giant Christmas trees and dangling gift boxes. The center has become, well, the only place to fit the Christmas tree.

Malls, the Pied Piper of False Worship

2008-02-17T13:49:00.000-05:00

Both authors of the readings this week seem to feel a profound attachment to the ‘beautiful’ side of the mall. Kowinski seems to reserve his sense of ‘community’ for malls designed by Viktor Gruen, while Zepp seems to find beauty in even the most banal mall, finding beauty in elements that aren’t even necessarily true, like symmetry.

Kowinski’s descriptions of the mall--in themselves--are beautiful, but like his own stage analogy of using ‘darkness to hide all distractions and light to focus audience attention’, he seems only interested in representing those aspects of malls he sees to be positive. His stage analogy, for example, works insofar as a spectacle, but finds itself woefully misconceived when the intentions of a mall and a theater are considered. Yes, in the end, both are businesses, but many a theater are founded on the notion that they will only perform life-changing plays, plays that cut to the quick of human drama and nature and its most vulnerable. They are trying to make people consider the world and their lives on a deeper, fuller level. I am yet to see a mall that seemed to be doing anything more than trying to get me to be caught up in a glorious image of consumerism. Destiny USA, perhaps, is striving to do so with all of it’s green initiatives and experiential elements that truly seem to be trying to create ‘another world’, but many an argument has already been made that these fantasies are nothing more than a selling point for the environmentally conscious or thrill-seeking consumer. As Kowinski touches on in the second two articles, I feel that the most good that can be said about the creation of malls is they can serve as a social condenser to meet people and form relationships, even if those relationships are centered around materials. I concede based on a few quick google searches that the Victor Gruen malls seem to be more architecturally inspired and ultimately more ‘beautiful’ than standard malls, but they’re still malls. They’re there to sell you things, and the goals of many of those stores is to convince you to buy things you not only never knew existed, but that these things are the answer to making your life ‘happier’. To quote Kurt Vonnegut in Cat’s Cradle: “Americans are always looking for love in places it doesn’t manifest.” Isn’t there something wrong with glorifying a love of consumption?

Zepp doesn’t seem to think so. He seems to just accept it as the condition of modern society. The mall is where people now go to find ‘centeredness’. I admit that at first I found Zepp relating the experience of a mall to all traditional forms of religion and spirituality absolutely hilarious, but as I read on a began to realize that they’re pretty accurate, at least as far as America is concerned. Humans have an innate desire to worship, and they’ll find it wherever it makes sense to them. The American mentality has made worshipping consumerism make sense.

This idea rings more true particularly to me as I’ve been working on Set Design for a play at the stage called ‘Equus’, by Peter Schaffer, which just so happens to be all about misplaced worship (and opens this coming weekend). When we first meet the main character, Alan, a rather mentally deranged boy of 17, all he says (or rather sings) is commercial jingles. The first worship in his life was television, and the ‘catchy tunes’ made him love to be a consumer if for no other reason because he loved their product’s theme songs. When his father took his TV away trying to explain it was ruining his mind, his mother introduced another form of worship in the form of religion. When his father took that away due to the violence inherent in that, he invents his own worship in a twisted religion of horses. In the end he stabs out the eyes of four of them but the point is that worship is a natural part of being human, and inevitably people will worship what ends up making the most sense to them to worship. Because all forms of media (and even our friends) can often give off an image that ‘products’ are what can make life enjoyable, that is what we find ‘making sense’ to us. Everyone we know can’t be wrong…can they?

The disconnected source

2008-02-17T13:22:00.001-05:00

If galleries separated the automobile from shopping, enclosed shopping centers separated everything else. The enclosed shopping center became its “own world, pulled out of time and space” (Kowinski 60). These centers or theaters, depending on Ira Zepp or William Kowinski, not only cared about themselves but ignored everything around them. As this ideas shifted, the focus became how to make “it” as great as possible. If that meant 25,000 yards of ribbon, 850 pounds of scattered snow and $70,000 later then so be it. The underlying issue here is how these enclosed, protected and controlled centers became less of a place to shop and more of a place to discover “a source of power” and “recharge human energy” (Zepp 37).

These artificial introverted environments became magnets and “special places to regain our identity and to be reconnected” (Zepp 38). The real question is how did they become these special places? I think the radical shift to suburbia chaos on all levels. Convention lost its meaning and people and shopping developers alike were looking for some sense of order and organized. Shopping centers were always a place of organization and the enclosure aspect enabled this organization to occur 24/7/365. These places were organized so much that even the Christmas decorated had blueprints so they could be repeated every year.

There is one problem which these centers. They created order and a sense of community but the experience is on a strictly individual level. When a person walks into this source of power they feel part of something bigger but never fully engage it, they simply observe it. So when I said enclosed shopping centers separated everything else that included an engaged active experience.