CONSUMERISM AS SPECTACLE

Aug 12, 05:57 pm

CONSUMERISM AS SPECTACLE

The visual voyage through any contemporary cityscape operates like a continuous shift between eye and mind, as though differences no longer existed between the two. The city has definitely ceased to be an object; instead, it has become the condition. At moments when urban spaces merge with street culture, the city is truly at its best. Yet, the urban space – street culture duality expresses neither traditionalist nor modernist dogmas. It is a spontaneous condition, driven by the instinct for survival, by utility, finance, and emotion, in an act of self-stylization.

The liberation of the architectural form, from what used to be solely an environmental shelter, has provided a new set of possibilities. Architectural form can now take any configuration. It can address issues not only of comfort, but also of social contact and all those idiosyncrasies that come with it.

The city has become an immense theme park, a collage and a reproducible surrealism. Yet, there is also a new approach to the city, which – at its best – is both a celebration and a spectacle. The new fabricated experience is like a kaleidoscope of unrelated fragments, which are forced into proximity; the new interior landscape is staged, in order to be consumed. Mobile furniture encourage social contact and visual interruptions encourage eye contact.

Projects by GEORGE KATODRYTIS / STUDIONOVA: ATOMIC BAR CAFE, 1996:
Plan of bar area