Place of Unpretentiousness

Abstract

The public condenser tends to stress the importance of non-commercial architecture within the context of Copenhagen as an opposition to the concept of consumerism. According to Leslie Sklair (2010): “Consumerism - or more accurately, the culture-ideology of consumerism - refers to a set of beliefs and values, integral but not exclusive to the system of capitalist globalization, intended to make people believe that human worth is best ensured and happiness is best achieved in terms of our consumption and possessions.”In addition to that, according to ‘The Harvard Guide to Shopping’ by Rem Koolhaas, “Shopping is arguably the last remaining form of public activity”, and “perhaps the beginning of the 21st century will be remembered as the point where the urban could no longer be understood without shopping.” Nowadays shopping is taking over every program imaginable. As a parasite it attaches itself to different programs, finding ways to survive and dominate, invading almost all human activity (Leong, 2001). Through psychoanalysis and psychogramming, people are being manipulatively forced to consume even more for the sake of making economic profit (Hosoya & Schaefer, 2001).The fact that one of nowadays most common public activity in gathering people is been led by manipulative strategies is shocking and urges to consider a place for the public that does not intend to manipulate for the sake of making economic profit. Therefore the public condenser in Copenhagen provides a place in which multiple activities can take place for different target audiences, not for the sake of making profit, but for the sake of providing valuable and unique experiences to the public in complete honesty, trustworthiness and transparency. Here, value refers to the immaterial profit as a counter reaction on consumerism while uniqueness refers to the extraordinary activities that can be achieved without the need of extravagancy. Honesty and trustworthiness refer to the anti-manipulative character of the building, while transparency refers to its straightforwardness and (visual) permeability.