Shopping centers as spectacle

Debord states that commodity, which is consumerism and unity, acts as spectacle itself. And there are two different models, "concentrated spectacle" and "diffused spectacle." During the post-world-war era, economic and political power affected these two spectacles and combined them as "integrated spectacle." It shows the consumer society, which has seen itself in a spectacular global market. When it achieves to lead the social life, it becomes a sign of the ultimate end-product of the system. For this reason, the spectacle can be considered as a representation of consumerism. It focuses people's attention on consumption. People's interest plays an active role in determining product value. When they want more, the consumption world gets bigger and bigger. We can see that this growing world is also affecting architecture. Shopping centers are one of the examples of spectacle spaces. The only experience provided in shopping malls is consumerism. People spend time seeing products and enjoy buying activities. Even if they do not purchase, they still happy being in this world. That decreases the social interaction of people, and images like the look, style, and possession function as signs of social prestige become new importance of the culture. As a result, the social culture changes through consumerist culture. And that creates self-destruction in an urban context as well. 


https://www.mallofberlin.de/en/#popup














Related reading: Guy Debord, “The Commodity as Spectacle”, Society of the Spectacle, London: Rebel Press, pp. 19-25.

References: https://patricklim.phlarchitects.com/2015/10/21/architecture-in-the-society-of-spectacle-modernism-challenge-in-the-city-and-urban-area/




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