Cultural Gym #2: Corner Store
Research, Critical Design, Experiential Graphics Design
Corner Store Cultural Gym is the second installment of a critical experience design series called Cultural Gyms that examines the relationship between the built environment, identity construction, and capitalism. Cultural Gym #2 project provides an immersive simulation that interrogates the ways in which identity is constructed and reinforced through American Corner Stores as both a physical site and identity-building process, and how this process is influenced by economic and political forces.
At the core of Cultural Gym #2 is the recognition that graphic messages in the built environment are not neutral nor monetarily transactional, but rather reflect and reinforce power relations and social hierarchies, and are a form
of social transaction. This is particularly evident in the ways in which urban spaces have been historically designed to exclude and marginalize certain groups, such as communities of color or low-income residents. These exclusionary practices are often intertwined with capitalist economic systems, which prioritize profit over social equity and justice. Questions include: How might we use design to expose the ways in which capitalism shapes and reinforces dominant identity constructions? How might we design products that do not rely on reinforcing harmful stereotypes to sell? How might we design products that resist the commodification of identity and prioritize authenticity?
