Subscribe to new articles and posts

How might shopping centres be reconfigured / redesigned to increase efficiency and reduce impulse-buying?

In a sustainable future, products will still need to be purchased, but consumption for its own sake will be less appropriate.  Simulating Selection proposes mapping consumption patterns and designing shopping centre layouts so that consumers can easily visit the section they need without going through all other areas.  This project combines technology and architecture to allow continued engagement with a mainstream consumption model, while addressing the need to become more thoughtful consumers.

Research Sources:
http://www.terraswarm.com/ (aranda/ lasch- architects in NY)
http://www.lalena.com/AI/Flock/ (flocking simulator)
The sociology of consumption : an introduction / Peter Corrigan. London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications, 1997
The consumer society : myths and structures / Jean Baudrillard.London : SAGE Publications, 1998.
The social psychology of consumer behaviour / Richard P. Bagozzi, Zeynep Gürhan-Canli and Joseph R. Priester. Buckingham [England] ; Philadelphia : Open University Press, 2002.

Simulating Selection is the outcome of research and development into the spatial conditions of impulsive spending and flocking analysis.  It is hoped that by altering the patterns of shopping and deterring impulse spending, unnecessary consumption will be curbed with follow through effects to the associated industries. The project proposes that it is possible to specify the circumstances in which one can expect high correlations between the environment and impulse behaviour and when one can expect the opposite. An understanding of these spatial relationships then becomes the generator for a new shopping typology. The resulting form is a series of independent shopping cells that group typical spending sequences; the distribution and size of shopping cells are generated from the research and rationalised through the planning of car turning circles. Over time, and with the input of ‘Flybuys’ like data, these sequences will become more refined. Shopping will become about the specificity of selection with reduced exposure to other unintended purchases. Water filtration and harvesting: water use and treatment are integrated into the design of the building and landscape. Site specific water harvesting and the use of bio-filters assists in improving water quality, the natural water cycle and, through evaporation, the micro climate. The Roof: Urban Landscape, Recreational Park, Stormwater Filtration Module. Adjacent cells can be easily traversed, but shopping bays outside of defined relationships can only be reached by driving or walking across the landscape. Ramps, escalators and lifts form the connections between the shopping cells. The connectivity is deliberately inefficient. Park: carpark entrance to shopping cell. Park: GPS or mobile phone direction to shopping cell. The building's structure was resolved as a series of steel frames with the addition of water filtration. Structure variations have multiple purposes. Landscape panel: flat. This variation in panel slope allows the landscape to be used as an exercise field where users gauge their level of intensity. Landscape panel: incline.