Selling Authenticity: The Aesthetics of Design Boutiques in Montreal

Autor: Guillaume Sirois
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Aesthetics of Gentrification ISBN: 9789048551170
Aesthetics of Gentrification
DOI: 10.5117/9789463722032_ch04
Popis: This chapter considers how the practice of design takes place in a city like Montreal, where it has been widely promoted in the last decade. It focuses on designers who create everyday-life objects and, more specifically, on the visual environment that characterises the design boutiques in Montreal’s Mile End district. It shows that the aesthetics of these spaces are developed around a set of values, namely authenticity, materiality and hospitality. These aesthetics are crucial to distinguish design products and signal to potential clients that these products belong to an alternative version of the market economy. Yet, the aesthetics of these boutiques contribute to an aesthetics of gentrification, which raise questions about the local culture, the history of the neighbourhood, and its population.
Databáze: OpenAIRE