bread and circuses

Benjamin anticipates how “architecture, with the first appearance of iron construction, begins to outgrow art” (5). He talks about the “rivalry begins between builder and decorator” and “the constructive principle gains its domination of architecture” (4). This goes back to our question from the last class of how to critique the architecture of the mall and what the role of the architect could be. “Spatial products,” like malls and skyscrapers, in which square footage and processes of exchange run the project, make the designer focus primarily on the technologies of creating spaces, which sometimes short-changes the quality of the environment. And when individual stores receive the bulk of environmental design, the experience of buying that merchandise increases the value and fetish-factor of the merchandise itself.

Arcades began through the covering of existing streets with iron and glass. The architect then designed interior facades and floors that complemented the class of the customers and the desires of the shopkeepers. I think that these attributes, along with the displays of the shops, created the allure of the arcade. Environmental design is perhaps receiving more attention in Destiny USA, though it’s more kitsch and less sophisticated, so that the value of the place increases by amplifying the “phantasmagoria, which a person enters in order to be distracted” (5).

On a side note, we’ve begun a look at the typology of commercial establishments, which may be a way of critiquing mall-kitecture: arcade, department store, mega-mall, etc. Arcades evolved from something that existed, the street. Malls are a kind of conglomeration of different types that are placed according to mode of transportation. This evolution probably reflects the evolution of transportation, cultural differences, and the business of goods exchange.