Yoga Pants = Junkspace
We’re noticing that trends are going in and out much quicker than in the past, for example the trend of yoga pants (“flare leggings” to the youngins) were all the rage in the 2010’s but quickly fell out of style only to never be seen again, or so we thought. Ten years later and they’re back with vengeance, giving all of us twenty something women major nostalgia with a splash of PTSD.
So where I’m going with this is: junkspace. Shocker. Malls were all the rage for decades and recently became empty, lifeless, expired, perished, stale, lackluster. You get it. So will they be back in style anytime soon or did COVID make the final blow that will allow online shopping take over.... forever? Forbes recently wrote an article about Amazon taking over some of these deceased malls and turning them into distribution centers, but how long until Amazon falls out of trend? Is it even imaginable or even possible? As an online shopping connoisseur myself, I am the sole reason malls died and I stand by my choices and will continue to be an online shopping advocate- call me Rem.
With trends rapidly fluctuating with more accessible media outlets, how can architecture keep up? Should we focus more heavily on how space can be flexible when its initial function inevitably becomes “basic” or “cringy?” Or do we just continue letting all this junkspace pile up because it’ll eventually become someone else’s problem and not ours?
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| Victoria's Secret Pink, Mall Location, 2012 |
It is so hard for us to predict the future, to imagine what will make significant changes to our daily lives next. Perhaps instead of attempting to design new spaces for future adaptation we should simply become better at adapting old spaces. There will always be a need for new design and inevitably it will become obsolete. This is true for products as well as buildings. With that being said whatever we design should be to the best of our abilities because a building with good bones can always be transformed and adapted.
ReplyDeleteHappy Early Birthday Scurry!
ReplyDeleteKelsey I like your analogy to fashion trends such as leggings. And your last comment is also a warning to us as upcoming designers to not design without the consideration of how it will affect society in the future and to be careful to not design things that other people will have to clean up later on.
ReplyDeleteI think you pose a really good question on how architecture can sustain and keep up with the changes of technology? But will technology get stale and people will flood malls again? What made the trend of yoga pants even return? It is really hard to tell and predict how a trend might go so being aware of the possibility of these spaces losing trend and design for that. Which is adaptation in itself
ReplyDeleteSorry anonymous was me
DeleteKelsey, your comparison of fashion and architecture is spot on. I look at trendy buildings and places of socialization and wonder when or how they would become as the kids say "cheugy" in years ahead. These things could then become a a comeback trend later on. You could also compare this to the sudden resurgence to records and the record player as their sales surpassed those of CDs last year. Is this due to a sense of nostalgia or something else?
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