The Creation of Spectacle

The Creation of Spectacle: Facade as Mediation

Building Envelope Research and Analysis

L. Bancroft, M. Oldmixon

Spring 2010; Skins Studio; Professor: Ellen Grimes

The definition of spectacle is malleable and ever-changing- dependent on social and cultural contexts. In Society of Spectacle, Guy Debord offers a socially critical definition, “spectacle is not a collection of images; rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images.”2 Written in 1967, Debord was reacting to the bombardment of mass media and its resultant culture, and this environment still thrives today. Debord’s argument revolves around the social relationship between the public and how spectacle becomes mediation. This argument is easily transferrable to architecture and façade. Façade can be defined as the mediation between a piece of architecture and the public. Thus, as Debord was reacting to the newly formed media context, architecture has also reacted to the contemporary environment by defining façade as both mediator and producer of spectacle.

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