AGORA, EVOLUTION RESEARCH
AGORA, EVOLUTION RESEARCH
YEAR
2013
LOCATION
Greece
TYPE
Research
AREA
-
Published at University of Patras | School of Architecture | Research Collection
Research thesis performed during Master of Science at the University of Patras, School of Architecture in Greece. Title: “Agora, evolution. From the traditional food market to the modern consumer culture”
Abstract: The evolution of cities is directly related to the development of trade, the progress in consumption and the emergence of the consumer society.
The European public space is closely linked with culture and thus constantly transformed according to the particular social and economic data. The urban economy is the one that to a certain extent, determines urban culture, consumer behaviors and local lifestyles.
The 21st century finds the new, globalized capitalist city in a crisis time. The dynamics of public space, which since the 20th century has turned to privatization, changes. Nothing is permanent anymore and the economic crisis also creates flowing conditions in architecture.
The market, the most important part of public space, changes character. In ancient Greece it is the center of public life and occupies a central position in the city. In ancient Rome, its role is still crucial, but its design is not based on a standard plan, but on an assemblage of individual, specific, enclosed complexes.
In the medieval city the market is created in parallel with its development. In the modern city it exists either with its nostalgic form as a fragment of the past, or as a new, privatized, consumption space. Most commercial points now transfer to the suburbs and urban gatherings differ.
Given the circumstances the limits of public-private are increasingly disappearing. The circulation within the city is changing, affected by the crisis that defines consumer behaviors, and even the people lives.
This thesis attempts to examine the transformation of the market and consumer behavior in the postindustrial city, from the perspective of the capitalist economic system evolution and the modern economic crisis.
It is structured in such a way, so that the changes to the site, the content, nature and culture of consumption each period are obvious, with emphasis given on the present.
Its extend is not locally limited and its presented as a guide of the modern commercialized world.
CONTENTS
PART ONE _ THE ORIGIN OF SPACE
1.1 Ancient Agora of Athens 1.2 Roman forum, 1.2 Medieval market – square, 1.3 Souq markets ,1.4 Middle Eastern Bazaar, 1.5 Typological evolution, 1.5.1 Roman, Greek markets and Marcellum, 1.5.3 Mercatum and Fairs, 1.5.4 Bedesten and Sipahiler Carsi, 1.6 Review
PART TWO _ INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE MARKET
2.1 Consumption, 2.1.1 Definition, 2.1.2, Features, 2.2 Movement of goods, 2.2.1 Transport Networks, 2.2.2 International trade rules, 2.3 Sale Points in the post – industrial city, 2.3.1 Modern consumption premises according to Koolhaas, 2.3.2 The architecture of the package, 2.4 Review
PART THREE _ CONSUMER CULTURE
3.1 The flaneur in the nineteenth century, 3.1.1 The quest, 3.1.2 The mobility within the city, 3.2 Transformation of claims, 3.2.1 The affluent society _ mass consumption, 3.2.2 The symbolic nature of consumption, 3.3 The internationalization of habits, 3.3.1 The Information Society, 3.3.2 The new era of access where the commercial realm dominates, 3.4 Review
PART FOUR _ MODERN MARKETS
4.1 Refinement and nostalgia, 4.1.1 Standardized markets, 4.1.2 Recreated traditional markets, 4.1.3 Memory markets, 4.1.4 Case studies, 4.2 Safety and introversion, 4.2.1 Malls, 4.2.2 Case studies, 4.3 Speed and flexibility, 4.3.1 Electronic commerce, 4.3.2 Case studies
CONCLUSIONS
