The Caff Is One of Britain’s Cultural Treasures – But if We Don’t Eat in Them, They’ll Disappear
Isaac Rangaswamitheguardian.comSaved by alexi gunner
The Caff Is One of Britain’s Cultural Treasures – But if We Don’t Eat in Them, They’ll Disappear
It’s not that these generic cafes are part of global chains like Starbucks or Costa Coffee, with designs that spring from the same corporate cookie cutter. Rather, they have all independently decided to adopt the same faux-artisanal aesthetic. Digital platforms like Foursquare are producing "a harmonization of tastes" across the world, Schwarzmann ... See more
Kyle Chayka • How Silicon Valley helps spread the same sterile aesthetic across the world
The homogeneity contrasted with the overall hipster philosophy of the 2010s, namely, that by consuming certain products and cultural artefacts you could proclaim your own uniqueness apart from the mainstream crowd – in this case a particular coffee shop rather than an obscure band or clothing brand. “The irony of it all is that these spaces are sup... See more
Kyle Chayka • The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same
Too Many Places Are STERILE and TORCHED — Let’s Make Them COOL and FUNKY
Jonah & Erinblackbirdspyplane.comIn the tearoom there is a sober veneration for unadorned rusticity, for the greatness to be found in the most restrained expression of the humble and simple.
Andrew Juniper • Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence
The freedoms associated with liminal spaces – club nights, abandoned buildings, forgotten shopping malls – often have a lot to do with the fact that these places, and the marks people left of themselves within them, will eventually disappear. There’s also something inherently egalitarian about them; a place that nobody owns or stakes an exclusive c... See more