Part 1 – Summary

In “Building the Empire of the Glaze: The Modern Movement and the Surveillance Society.” the author dissects the idea of the surveillance society that erupted during the modernism movement of the early to mid 20th century. By severely decreasing the design of privacy in spaces, allowing people to see through walls and into private spaces with the use of glass among other modern industrial and mass-produced materials gained a philosophy that communicated a more open and democratic society. This idea hypothesized that the use of transparency within design would encourage people to be more connected to each other and to the world around them. In this context, glass represented a kind of visual transparency that could help to break down the boundaries between art and life, and between the individual and the collective. Le Corbusier certainly emulted this philosophy with his famous quote, “the house is a machine for living in,” as it can be read as a call for a new kind of domestic architecture that is optimized for the production of visible and surveilled subjects. The Modernist house, with its open plan, glass walls, and lack of ornamentation, is designed to enhance visibility and awareness.

Part 2 – Meracki Coffee CO.

Meracki coffee exudes trendy modern interior design with it transparent glass facade open to gaze into from passers on the sidewalk. Another modern feature, glass garage doors that open up to outdoor seating is a trendy solution to bring people in from the outside. The interior has a minimalist open floor plan of just a few couches and seating areas, low to the floor with no privacy. This type of layout definitely works for cafes as a place to socialize. On the other hand, not everyone appreciates such an open floorplan without any private nooks for a cafe setting. Personally, I need some form of privacy to get work done, so if this was the activity Meracki was aiming for their customers to engage in, more private stations could be beneficial to the layout. This would allow customers to choose the type of seating that best suits their needs, whether it be a social gathering or a quiet work session.