Consuming Places

Space: 

• Formless

Place:

• Space invested with meaning

Place Attachment (Topophilia):

• The bond that occurs between individuals and their meaninful environments

• Affection for a place 'Topophilia' (Tuan) 

• Cognition & Schema

• Behaviour

• Individual / personal

• Collective

Grass Roots:

• Free 
• Risky
• Strong community / fan base
• Counter culture
• Authenticity through involvement

Commodified Places:

• Controlled / regulated
• Safe
• Commercial
• Mass produced
• Placeless? 
• Authenticity through consumption

"It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that in its latest incarnation, the city is less a place for and of the people and more a unit for the efficient maximisation of consumption".

"The image of the mall at its most universal level is that of a 'global product'" (Jewell, 2001)

A globalised paradox

• Global choice diminishes

• Individual choices unparalleled

• Historically we escaped through nature - now we consume to escape

• Shopping malls offer individual self expression and a stage for a community founded on the exchange of goods

Cathedrals of consumption

• A space for creativity, meaning and avoiding boredom...

• Exsquisitely styled aisles and atriums forming a never ending magnet of design experiences

• or a refuge for the duped

• Exclusionary processes make certain (and typically newer) retail spaces inaccessible to certain groups (Sibley, 1995). 

• Shopping malls as highly controlled spaces where an illusion of happy consumption is busily maintained (Miles, 2010) 

A Person's fear of place

• Danger or unpleasant
• Exclusivity
• Lack of fit w/ identity
• Brand Damage?

I.e. Shops respondents tended to avoid were described as 'grotty, old fashioned' or 'too flashy'. While staff were described as 'lazy, annoying' or 'overattentive' 

Or by appointment only or doorman etc.

Or when a festi invites the wrong artist - Kanye - brand damage?

A Person's fear of place

• Danger or unpleasant
• Exclusivity
• Lack of fit w/ identity
• Brand Damage?

I.e. Shops respondents tended to avoid were described as 'grotty, old fashioned' or 'too flashy'. While staff were described as 'lazy, annoying' or 'overattentive' 

Or by appointment only or doorman etc.

Or when a festi invites the wrong artist - Kanye - brand damage?

A Person's fear of place

• Danger or unpleasant
• Exclusivity
• Lack of fit w/ identity
• Brand Damage?

I.e. Shops respondents tended to avoid were described as 'grotty, old fashioned' or 'too flashy'. While staff were described as 'lazy, annoying' or 'overattentive' 

Or by appointment only or doorman etc.

Or when a festi invites the wrong artist - Kanye - brand damage?