Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy

by Anna Klingmann

In the twenty-first century, we must learn to look at cities not as skylines but as brandscapes and at buildings not as objects but as advertisements and destinations. In the experience economy, experience itself has become the product: we're no longer consuming objects but sensations, even lifestyles. In the new environment of brandscapes, buildings are not about where we work and live but who we imagine ourselves to be. In Brandscapes, Anna Klingmann looks critically at the controversial practice of branding by examining its benefits, and considering the damage it may do. Klingmann argues that architecture can use the concepts and methods of branding--not as a quick-and-easy selling tool for architects but as a strategic tool for economic and cultural transformation. Branding in architecture means the expression of identity, whether of an enterprise or a city; New York, Bilbao, and Shanghai have used architecture to enhance their images, generate economic growth, and elevate their positions in the global village. Klingmann looks at different kinds of brandscaping today, from Disneyland, Las Vegas, and Times Square--prototypes and case studies in branding--to Prada's superstar-architect-designed shopping epicenters and the banalities of Niketown. But beyond outlining the status quo, Klingmann also alerts us to the dangers of brandscapes. By favoring the creation of signature buildings over more comprehensive urban interventions and by severing their identity from the complexity of the social fabric, Klingmann argues, today's brandscapes have, in many cases, resulted in a culture of the copy. As experiences become more and more commodified, and the global landscape progressively more homogenized, it falls to architects to infuse an ever more aseptic landscape with meaningful transformations. How can architects use branding as a means to differentiate places from the inside out--and not, as current development practices seem to dictate, from the outside in? When architecture brings together ecology, economics, and social well-being to help people and places regain self-sufficiency, writes Klingmann, it can be a catalyst for cultural and economic transformation.

Genres: Architecture

364 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2007

Reviews

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening study on branding

The mall where you shop, the coffee shop where you take your breaks, the museum that you visit – wherever you go, you are walking through a “brandscape,” or branded world. Anna Klingmann describes this aesthetic experience in her eye-opening study of branding in all its forms, with a special focus on architecture. Offering a unique perspective, Klingmann breaks down the strategy behind well-known brands such as Disney, Apple and Starbucks. She also parses the experiences that brandmakers create everywhere from cruise ships to casinos to that “urban entertainment district” where you might have suffered your latest attack of brand overload. Klingmann’s text meanders at times, yet her trenchant analysis is rewarding. getAbstract recommends this book to anyone seeking a perceptive analysis of branding strategies – with an unusual recognition of how architecture and landmarks serve to generate a brand image.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you work in the humanities but think its insular nature is absurd, this book may be for you. Although it's essentially an architectural text, you can replace "architecture" with "art" or "literature" or "poetry" and many of the main concepts will ring true.

Basic idea: Modernism is a stupid pipe dream because you can't base what people want on geometry and forms; you need to examine what they respond to with emotions and desire.

I consider myself a better artist for having read this.

[FATHOM+HATCH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explores how architecture can benefit from branding strategies developed by marketers and advertisers | Important text to read for both architects and branding professionals | The books develops a unique and attractive idea that draws from theory to form highly practical ways of implementing brand building for architects, buildings, and real estate developers | Very engaging, constructively critical, relevant to our time

[Thomas Riccio · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are living in an increasingly mediated narrative shaped by brands, media systems, and, as this book posits, architecture. Made me see and think about Disney, Vegas, and how architecture is increasingly becoming an extension of an evolving, consumer/commerce driven world.