Platform: Part 1

Culver City, CA

Background

It’s no secret. The behemoth, sprawling malls that once ruled the retail-scapes of the 80s, 90s, and early aughts have lost their wallet-opening luster. Dated designs, and hulking, uninspired architecture surrounded by seas of asphalt parking lots no longer resonate with today’s shoppers, be they young, old, or in-between. Ecommerce has fundamentally changed the way we shop. Click-and-deliver convenience continues to replace what used to be mandatory store visits, and younger generations now entering the work force simply do not know life without internet shopping. As a result, businesses that rely on a physical presence must adapt strategically in order to survive.

So, how can commercial developers and retail centers reclaim their economic power in this ever-changing, internet-dominated landscape? By prioritizing and investing in what I am calling “intentional design.” Intentionally-designed environments offer interactive, visceral experiences that the digital realm simply cannot replicate in the real world. It encompasses everything from line-of-sight, to scale, to navigability, to biophilic (nature-based) elements, to consideration of energetic and emotional states the space evokes, which includes more subtle and complex efforts to promote wellness and lower stress responses. Our collective concept of sustainability must expand from actively benefitting the earth to also serving the human experience. Intentional environments support our overall wellness on a subconscious level by speaking to deeper, natural human behaviors, preferences, and psyches that remain consistent in the undercurrents of every passing trend.

Mindful People

So how do we do that? Increasingly, design is learning how to merge the soft sciences of psychology, emotions, and subconscious behavior with the more hard sciences of biology, physiology, architecture, materials, and peer-backed research. Intentional design requires a deeper look at people, culture, and environment. The U.S. culture is in the midst of an evolutionary shift, both technologically and introspectively. While there may be merit to the argument that the smart phone revolution is making us more insular and anti-social, at the same time, we are seeing the concept of “mindfulness” and the realization of it’s many life-enhancing benefits begin to spread exponentially.

Often, when certain terms graduate to trendy buzzwords, the original meaning or intention can become diluted and less accurate, and unfortunately, “mindfulness” is no exception. However, the kind of mindfulness I’m talking about is self-awareness. This encompasses awareness of our emotional states, of our ability to thoughtfully respond to people and situations instead of by knee-jerk reaction, of our habitual thoughts, of remembering to be grateful, of how we treat others, and of simply seeing others as fellow complicated human beings just trying to make it through their day. We are seeing this rise of mindfulness play out in the explosion of the wellness economy. Yoga studios, meditation centers, spiritual centers, boutique gyms, farmer’s markets, organic foods, food allergy awareness, healthier restaurant and fast food options, wearable fitness tech, and health monitoring tech all continue to grow at a staggering pace.

Mindful Environments

Society is becoming increasingly aware of design and how it affects their lives. As technology continues to become more sophisticated, so too has the need for an increasingly intuitive and streamlined UI/UX design language. This is evident in how far we have come from the pixelated, chunky frame-based sites to the ultra high-resolution, polished editorial designs of today’s websites and apps. Across the board, design as a leading element is becoming more sophisticated and refined in virtually every major sector from architecture, to interior design, to graphic design, to trade shows, to large scale events, to film-making, to cars, to home furnishings, to tech, to connected home devices, and on and on.

The commercial development space, however, has tended to lag behind in fully recognizing the importance of intentional, strategic design. Gone are the days of just putting up walls, a roof, and some beige paint and expecting customers to knock down your doors by your product offerings alone (although, there are always exceptions). Retailers and commercial real estate developers must now provide would-be customers with communal experiences and places of stimulation, relaxation, and inspiration. Even pop-ups are expected to bring their A-game.

Although we may not all have the language to articulate it, we are all becoming more aware of how we feel in built environments and whether or not those environments encourage us to feel safe, relaxed, engaged, and ultimately, in today’s social-driven world, “part of the in-crowd” just by being there. Subconsciously we ask ourselves, do I feel like this business or developer actually went the extra mile to create something special for me and the community? Or does it feel like they went with the cheapest option possible and couldn’t care less about how we all feel in their space?

So, how do we adapt? By being mindful of how our environments affect us emotionally, mentally, and physically and how awareness of those affects helps us make better choices when we design our environments. This is a responsibility shared amongst all of us — from consumers, to the land developers, to the architects and designers, to the store owners, to the municipal governments. This comes down to prioritizing quality, value, and care as pillars of community design that creates better and safer places for everyone — including the earth itself. As stress lowers, so does the potential for crime and violence. Don’t we all want a safer and more inspired place to live? Desirable places are valuable places both financially and subjectively.

Platform As A Platform

With all of these concepts circling in my brain, I recently visited the newly completed PLATFORM, a mixed use retail, living, and office development in Culver City. Here, the designers and architects have created a unique shopping experience that infuses many of these considerations and more into an engaging, communal, inspired environment that I consider a model for future successful mixed-use developments.

In this multi-part series, I will take a look at the unique combination of elements and intentional design choices I observed that help make this new lifestyle campus such an interesting case study and template for success.

Thank you for your continued interest!