Ryan Lauderdale: Glazed Atrium

Glazed Atrium is an exploration of the theatrical nature employed by late capitalism, especially the architectural grandeur used in retail. The vast atriums and balconies of shopping malls dwarf the individual body, making one stand in awe of the almost spiritual lure of consumerism. This, of course, is an old tactic repurposed from centuries-old cathedrals and more recent modernist/state-funded building projects. What was used to broadcast piety and power is used by retail to project seemingly limitless and transcendent dreams of individualism.

However, these spaces now exist almost entirely in the past-tense. Dead malls are torn down, and their atriums flattened into digitized memories. While their aims were deceptive and illusionary, and their promises wholly fraudulent; one can’t help but lament the dreams evoked by these spaces.

Another future that never came to be.