II.++Landscapes+of+Cultural+Consumption

Just as objects, furnishings, and decor have been redesigned in an effort to provide beauty and style to the masses, downtown areas have also been restyled through urban renewal efforts. Former industrial districts have been transformed into shopping and entertainment zones, with high-end stores, restaurants, and nightclubs.

Urban Entertainment Districts

Page 7 of the Mix It Up CHapter 9 article states: "These sites of popular cutlre consumtion are often clustered in urban entertainement districts developed as part of a larger strategy of city growth and renewal (Hannigan 1998). The revitaization of once decrepit ports represents a major effort to sanitize the American city of its blue-collar past by replacing its now-defunct shipbuilding, fishing, and transport industries with shopping malls and museums that romanticze the backbreaking labor of dockworkers, longshoremen, and lobstermen."

New Urban Nightlife-The consumerist landscapes in cities across the globe lurks the the spectacles of the new urban night life, entertainment zones, velvet roped night clubs, and high-concept restaurants. These places tend to be highly stylized, demonstrating a concern with aesthetic imagery and playful design.

example: downtown night clubs, restaurants, and bars.

media type="youtube" key="uQvioyiBJzE?fs=1" height="385" width="640"

High-Concept Dining


 * High-concept restaurants tend to be extremely stylized and are concerned with playful, theatrical design and aesthetic imagery.


 * High-concept restaurants evoke images of dining seen on television, in movies, and on reality television shows such as //The Hills// and //The City//.


 * There are theatrical elements in many high-concept restaurants. One of the elements is the use of technology to entertain customers. One restaurant in Philadelphia uses color changing booths while another uses a 3-D hologram that greets customers as they enter.


 * Lighting is key in high-concept restaurants. Many times they are designed like theatrical movie sets, if the lighting is not right the customers will see the flaws in inexpensive set design and the experience will be less luxurious. In addition, lighting is used to evoke a romanticized feeling and enhance the high scale dining experience.

media type="youtube" key="zQnLaOdDbCw?fs=1" height="385" width="480" (This is a video from the Morimoto Restaurant in Philadelphia .)