RESEARCH: Spaces of Commerce

(Summer Term 25)

The studio conducted two types of research: global and local. Through this dual research approach, students gained both a broad comparative perspective and a site- specific understanding, helping to critically engage with the current and foreseeable urban transformations driven by e-commerce and media.

The global research investigated marketplace transformation as a global phenomenon, analyzing how shopping infrastructure has shaped and disrupted urban life across different cities worldwide. This included case studies of Addis Ababa, Istanbul, Bangkok, Dubai, and Medellín, each offering a distinct retail condition and response to contemporary shifts such as online shopping. From the I oA Square at the University of Applied Arts, Studio Space Popular conducted digital tours through a variety of malls located within diverse geographical, climatic, and cultural contexts.

This research process involved the systematic collection and examination of visual, spatial, and contextual data. Identifying patterns, gaps, and typological trends within the global landscape of shopping malls requires critical engagement with the material moving beyond surface-level impressions and avoiding broad generalizations. Instead, participants are encouraged to uncover specific relationships between form, function, and context, with a focus on precision and analytical clarity.

The local research consisted of a detailed study of marketplace transformations in Vienna, both historically and in their present-day manifestations. This involved identifying and analyzing key retail networks including markets, department stores, malls, and fulfillment centers. The goal was to identify, document, and critically analyze sites where retail-driven urban changes are observable—both historically and in the present day, and to show the networks that connect and flow through them. Students constructed a composite map following the methodology of the cartographic study Forma Urbis Romae by Rodolfo Lanciani (1901).