Endless Loops of Desire: Consumerism, Architecture, and the Evolution of Malls
Consumerism and consumption are part of the capitalistic system, and the idea of constant growth is an unavoidable part of our reality. It does not only refer to materialistic objects but also to the systems we live in. However, maybe the shopping mall shouldn’t refer to the built matter but rather to the public interior. "The interior is fundamental to architecture, the interior is that space that architecture makes, which is all at once set apart from the world and in its midst.”2 Nowadays, stores are no longer designed as separate individual entities to purchase necessities - they are designed as integrated interiors to entertain and entice. Malls have evolved into spaces of recreation, purposefully crafted to encourage consumers to shop more, mirroring the culture of consumption that characterizes much of modern life. Jean Baudrillard in "The Consumer Society" states that today’s world is filled with an overwhelming abundance of objects, services, and goods, which marks a major shift in human life. Unlike when people surrounded themselves with other humans, now we are increasingly circumscribed by things. These objects are organised into collections, and presented through shops, advertisements, and brands.
These displays create a connected system, where each thing refers to others, forming a "super-object" that influences the consumer’s choices. The arrangement of items is intentional, guiding consumers through a network of products and encouraging them to make purchases, leading to a cycle of consumption driven by more complex motivations than simply buying things out of desire.3 Shopping malls are interiorised never-ending loops of moving walkways and systems that serve as an extension of the same principle that Baudrillard described.
Labyrinth of Consumption: Navigating the Interiorized Malls of Hong Kong
My first significant architectural reflection on the interior of malls formed when I moved to Hong Kong -the city perceived as the 21st century paradigmatic capital of consumerism. Of all places, it has the most dense concentration of shopping malls and skyscrapers, both integral to its urban economy. Hong Kong positions retail at its core, employing a significant portion of its population in this sector. The city is a popular shopping destination, attracting global brands due to its tax-free environment and high demand. However, this comes in hand with the world's most expensive retail space.4
The very first day when I landed in Hong Kong, the meteorological station warned of an approaching typhoon. Stocking up on food supplies was recommended to residents for a few days, as everything was going to be shut down. Not waiting too long, I asked where I could find the closest grocery shop. New Town Plaza shopping mall in Shatin was the answer.
Navigating through the city to reach the mall was a seamless experience; the public transport system appeared to effortlessly merge with the mall’s infrastructure, creating a complex net of subway lines and skyscrapers. As I discovered later, the malls in this city are rarely found in isolation, they’re usually attached to the most strategic points of the city transit hubs. They inhabit spaces under offices and hotel towers and are even integrated into residential areas, creating a fully interiorised typology: a mall-oriented complex.5
The main hall of the Shatin Mall welcomed me with an extra white shimmering floor, a web of escalators, sky-high ceilings, and bright signboards of different famous international brands. At first, I thought the interior was overcrowded because of the unusual situation. However, upon closer observation, the shopping Hong Kongers weren’t on the same emergency mission as I was, immersing in rather normal leisurely shopping activities, careless about the typhoon weather conditions (or maybe indeed worried of temporary interruption of their favourite activity). The shopping mall seemed organised and retail shops were positioned according to the rental rate; the most expensive brands found their place in the main hall or just next to it.
Sinking deeper into its interior, I saw less monetary hierarchy, as there were more and more halls and corners much like the first one. Nevertheless, there was still a strategy behind it, that encouraged me to stay for a long time. It took a while before I found the grocery shop, well this is after a whole network of corridors, countless turns, ups and downs of escalators. The grocery shop itself had multiple entrances. After an erratic food shopping spree, I tried to find my way back. The attempt to navigate and retrace my steps seemed an impossible task, and asking the locals for directions only added to the confusion.
Choosing the intuitive ways brought me back to the starting point, feeling as though I were trapped in a fever dream. With each attempt, passing similar configurations of shops, a delirious thought began to take hold: I might never find my way out. Believe me or not, I was lost in the labyrinth for over two hours and barely made it to the last metro before the typhoon.
The enchantment strategy of shopping mall interiors is to stimulate repurchase intention, loyalty, and desire to stay longer by providing attractive and convenient shopping experiences. Because of my attitude, tiredness, and a precise goal in mind, it had failed and instead caused a short trauma and overthinking of the interiorised Hong Kong experience. The shopping malls are embedding overconsumption into the daily life of the city.
Junkspace vs. Strategic interiors
With more time and observation, I started to understand that malls are also strategic interiors of the city - with small apartments and a hot climate, they have become the default public space for socialising, marking frequent visits to the malls an inevitable part of life for Hong Kongers. The consideration of the attributes and mechanisms of those spaces and how they impact us followed. The term Junkspace appeared for the first time in the Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping in 2001, which examined the consumer-driven evolution of cities and suburbs. Rem Koolhaas described the transformation and features in more detail. Junkspaces are a product of an encounter between an escalator and air-conditioning, where continuity is the essence.
"It is always interior, so extensive that you rarely perceive limits. It promotes disorientation by any means (mirror, polished surfaces, echo). “Junkspace is sealed, held together not by structure but by skin, like a bubble. It replaces hierarchy with accumulation, composition with addition. More and more, more is more."6
The description of Junkspace by Koolhaas recalls my Shatin Mall experience but also more or less refers to any other shopping mall’s distinctive traits. The interior provides a loop between time and space, a mirage that time doesn't matter, the outside doesn't exist, and simultaneously the mall is the world in this very particular moment, a simulation in which if we lose ourselves and give up control, we immerse ourselves within this dream-like environment. As the spaces became dominated by large international retailers rather than local domestic department stores, the marketing strategies became more aggressive yet manipulating us in subtle ways without realising how big an impact they have on our choices. They are driven by the idea of continuous growth. The focus has shifted from individualised settings to a more structured, profit-driven consumer experience. The Shatin Mall in Hong Kong is a radical example. Nevertheless, it reveals in what direction the architecture of tomorrow is going - it is not just a shopping mall but rather a network of interiors with generated marketing runways. It is a part of a bigger infrastructure that encompasses shared standards, management styles, and rules that shape everyday life. The shopping mall spaces are no longer unique, singular creations but are mass-produced to fit a global template. The architecture of entrapment is constructed according to a formula, increasingly uniform and repetitive, engineered for efficiency and consumption.
Rethinking Public Interiors: The modern Temple of Consumerism and Control
The malls, similar around the world, create emotionally charged environments that encourage consumerism while blending into the broader landscape of globalised urban architecture alongside skyscrapers and business parks. Their interiors became repeatable formulas and a matrix of details, an infrastructure space.
The shared standards and ideas that control everything from technicalobjects to management styles also constitute an infrastructure. Far fromhidden, infrastructure is now the overt point of contact and access betweenus all - the rules governing the space of everyday life.7
When we examine malls as part of public interiors rather than mere "junkspaces," a troubling realisation emerges: their space is ruled by powerful, often hidden forces controlled by the world's most influential figures. Driven by shareholders’ demands for profit, they prioritise consumption, privatise public interiors and limit freedom of action while reducing the role of the individual as a citizen. In this environment, we risk becoming passive participants, much like the mass-produced items we purchase. Though this might seem like an apocalyptic scenario, it isn't. Once we move beyond ignorance and denial and come to a place of realisation, we can understand how these mechanisms and systems truly operate. The question now is: should we not begin to rethink and reimagine public interiors, creating spaces that offer a genuine alternative to the controlled environments we currently inhabit?
References
1. Jencks, Charles, and Edwin Heathcote. The Architecture of Hope : Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. Frances Lincoln, 2010.
2. Pimlott, Mark. The Public Interior as Idea and Project. Jap Sam Books, 2016.
3. Baudrillard, Jean, and Chris Turner. The Consumer Society : Myths and Structures. Repr, Sage, 1998.
4. Al, Stefan, editor. Mall City : Hong Kong’s Dreamworlds of Consumption. University of Hawaii Press, 2016.
5. Al, Stefan, editor. Mall City : Hong Kong’s Dreamworlds of Consumption. University of Hawaii Press, 2016.
6. Koolhaas, Rem. “Junkspace.” October, vol. 100, 2002, pp. 175–90. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/779098. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.
7. Easterling, Keller. Extrastatecraft : The Power of Infrastructure Space. Verso, 2014.