| An investigation of Pop Culture might reveal a set of parameters to which architecture can respond as an expression of contemporary American culture. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to understand the plural realities of American culture---as reflected in the sometimes-controversial products of Pop Culture---and to ultimately relate these paradigms to the design of a drive-thru BOTOX Clinic in West Hollywood.; Furthermore, if American culture is permeable to Pop influence, and the "culture of the United States is inescapably and increasingly both multi-cultural and commodified,"1 how does architecture readily respond to this culture? These investigations might ultimately deduce that if Pop Culture has propagated image consciousness through the Media, thereby encouraging the means of physical malleability such as BOTOX, then perhaps Pop Culture can influence the architectural design of a cosmetic procedure center. Likewise, if Pop Culture has also propagated the use of the automobile, thereby encouraging the automobile-oriented building type, then perhaps this design could also reflect Pop Culture's increasing dependence on the automobile as a mainstay of American living. To aid these investigations, we will consider contemporary fashion, reality television, BOTOX injections, MTV, the diet industry, tabloids, teen movies, Boy Bands, dot-coms, and other Pop Cultural products throughout. These investigations will most likely produce an understanding of the extent to which Pop Culture has permeated and influenced building design in contemporary America. The findings will then be applied to the design study of a BOTOX Clinic in West Hollywood, California.; 1John Fiske, "Global, National, Local? Some Problems of Culture in a Postmodern World," Velvet Light Trap not cited.40 (1997): 66. |
