Although Ponce City Market is the best modern representation of the arcades, this description is reminiscent of Atlantic Station. Stratified from the clamor of downtown, Atlantic Station is a residential area that can be self-functioning. In addition to the shopping center of nice stores and restaurants, there is a Target and Publix that supply the basic necessities of residents. The culture and architecture of Atlantic Station almost discourage unity with the downtown of Georgia State, and the Station operates in its own affluent bubble.

The utility of built environments arise from the needs of the people; Benjamin's argument for built environments is that they adapt to the various interactions of their tenants, supporting the idea that our interaction with an area serve to shape our built environments.

There is no connection between the various shops in the arcades; rather, the arcades were an assemblage of stores that provided various necessities for tenants. This characterizes the evolution of a built environment here described by Benjamin, first from a place of necessities to a place of art.

Arcades, resemble the bazaars of the Middle East, which according to the New World Encyclopedia, appeared in the Middle East around the fourth century. Bazaars were a street of shops where goods and services were exchanged or sold, and preceded the modern-day supermarket. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Bazaar

The article “Pokémon Go Has Created a New Kind of Flaneur” by Laura Bliss equates contemporary Pokémon Go players to the wanderers of the nineteenth century. Charles Baudelaire in 1863 coined the idea of a flaneur, a French term for those who “stroll the city streets” merely to collect observations of their environment. The contemporary app encourages players to explore urban areas and collect Pokémon at historic, cultural, and forgotten spaces of their city.

While the game encourages electronic exploration of the city, “le traineur” is not grounded in reality. Bliss admits that most players rarely look up from their phones to observe the areas they wander, which discredits their association with the flaneur. The consumers characterized by Benjamin were intentional in their exploration of arcades. French arcades supplied the needs of tenants, who perused the stalls and walkways with purpose. Benjamin even describes the role of facial expressions as a form of advertisement employed by vendors in the arcades, and the joy of consumers at these expressions. While I think the article presents a relevant comparison to our preceding flaneur, I believe the similarities are exaggerated; contemporary players are more absorbed in an electronic arcade than their actual built environments.

Here we note the impact of the arcades on the separation of public and private spaces. Arcades became an amalgamation of the two spaces, and garnered the intimacy of personal activities like smoking while making these public and communal affairs.

This observation connects to my highlight on page eleven. Arcades impacted the early evolution of advertisement; as characterized by the highlighted section above, storefronts were arranged to encourage quick and expansive recognition of goods and deals in a store. The design of the arcades was meant to slow the consumer and encourage exploration, a form of forced advertisement.

This observation reveals the extent to which built environments are shaped by convenience. This idea is prevalent in new additions to the city to improve walkability in a heavily trafficked city; the emergence of Beltline and the recent introduction of streetcars are meant to relieve the stress of driving. Spaces like the Beltline even encourage alternate forms of transportation, like biking and skating.

The cultural significance of this design must have revolutionized business across the world. A new independence from weather would allow an increase in the openness of the market. It would also encourage specialization, and the introduction of new products as vendors could sell a more diverse array of goods.

Here we note the evolution of the idea of value as something of a social construct, that it is not determined by the actual utility or composition of a good, but by the worth allocated to that good. This foreshadows the dependency of society on brand, and the development of a more materialistic society.

This statement reveals the impact of arcades on gender stereotypes. Generalizations such as the resistance and strength of men made that gender more qualified for employment as salesmen.

This characterizes the idea of attraction in the market, as advertising became the exotic nature of a storefront. Brand and class were at this time determined by appearance of a street salon.

Empress Josephine of France adorned these shawls, shipped to France from her son in Egypt. Napolean and his officers brought them from their campaigns abroad. Josephine was a trend-setter in French fashion, and despite her initial distaste for the garments, she would devote much of her wealth to these shawls in her lifetime. https://historiquecouture.wordpress.com/2007/04/07/the-cashmere-shawls-of-empress-josephine/