Artistic Market

     The use of space is never ending. There is always a want and need for space. The purpose of each piece of space is different according to its use. The Glendale Market Place is located on Brand Blvd, this street is the most popular part of the Glendale district.The Market Place is near the Glendale Galleria and the Americana. The Market Place has a pleasant atmosphere and youthful exuberance to it. Its interesting architectural design, social groups, and artistic stand points make it a space worth visiting; along with the intriguing idea of how this space is a power structure that can run itself.

    When seeing the market place from a far it automatically captures the eye. The design of the upstairs dining area is a circular balcony that looks over to what is now the Americana. During the night there are musical performances taking place hired by the restaurant. To get to the top one could use the stairs that wind up going to the restaurant or the escalator that places you right in front of the Mann Theaters. The theater is located right next to the restaurant, blue neon lights shine brightly at the entrance welcoming you to the movies. Beneath the restaurant there is a department store to shop at. Next to the department store their are two unique fountains located that give the place a cool atmosphere in the summer heat. Around the fountains the are little cart owners selling their merchandise. When walking past this front half you enter a small ally way that is lined with tables to sit at in-front of their respective fast food stores. The ally is lined with places to eat such as Panda or Baja fresh. Also there are shops such as cold stone so that one could treat them selves in the summer. The stores are all separated from one another once entering the store the outside world seems to disappear. Jeremy Bentham's panopticon idea is seen here "These cells are divided from one another, and the prisoners by that means secluded from all communication with each other"(Bentham 1). That once entering in a cell or in this case store the people you had just seen outside you no longer have communication with until leaving. Before entering the Marketplace on the side their is the ticket booth for you to purchase movie tickets for the Mann Theaters. Michel Foucault explains that a Panopticon is the "self-motivation of many power structures that discipline both small and large bodies of people, meaning that certain power structures operate without actual control by another person"(Leach 1). This describes the operation going on at the Glendale Market Place. No one person controls this very public area. That the structure draws people in its self so that they may come and go as they please without being told so. The basic idea of Foucault is that the market place runs its self without the need for promotion, it itself can capture an audience.

    When I was a child I wold walk with my parents to the market place. We would buy tickets for a movie and I would go running up the stairs excited. Most of the people that would be at the market place were teenagers and parents with their children. Most of the children would be running under the fountain while the structure would spit out water making a game out of it running back and forth. There would be people sitting and eating their meals. Teenagers would be standing around in the corners waiting for a movie to start playing or more friends to show up. A lot of people in the summer would have ice cream that they just brought from cold stone in their hands walking around, especially the kids would be covered in ice cream. The market place is a place to just come and have a good time with people that you enjoy being around. The atmosphere is full of life and energy. In front of the entrance there might be street performers playing their own music. Many people like to listen to the unknown artist playing on street corners and throw a few dollars into their open guitar cases. This space brings people together to enjoy their day or night out; with friends and family.

    The design of the Market Place with its strange architecture blends in with the artistic elements and coloring done by its creators. At the entrance of the building the fountain is the main attraction of the place. There are three large green frogs climbing up a pole and each take a turn spiting into the pond, the structure also has a waterfall to its back. The pond is a open space of water that is artfully designed with brown rocks encasing the pond. In front of fountain there are palm trees encircling the front half of the Marketplace, then curving into and leading you to the alleyway. The ground is made to look like cobblestones. While the store buildings a brownish gold on the outside with the doorways having a arch to them or a high rectangular doorway. The stores face each other with there doors made of glass in order to see the outside and let in day light. In Bentham's design "Each cell has in the outward circumference, a window, large enough, not only to light the cell, but, through the cell, to afford light enough to the correspondent part of the lodge" (Bentham 1).   In the middle of the ally way their are lamp post lining the middle. Some of the have pots of flowers hanging from their sides. Foucault believed that there was "organization of power in terms of space" (Leach 1). The way that this fits into Foucault's idea is not only the way the market is set up or designed, but also it very location. The Market Place is in a very well known part of Glendale. The street is full of little shops and is located near the mall. Its location makes it accessible for many people for it is not a store, but an open air space that one could enter then leave from the other side, taking them to the next street. So the way they set up the market place is very important right down to the very street its set on. After all the first rule in real estate is "location, location, location"(Dillard 1).

    The Glendale Market Place is spectacular in its simplicity. For years it had been the hot spot in the eyes of Glendale residents. The peculiar nature of the architecture makes it an interesting building to walk through, the social atmosphere welcomes all ages, and its decor makes the place feel as if for a moment you have entered another world. The Market Place has a eccentric appeal for the city of Glendale.

work cited
http://www.amst.umd.edu/Research/cultland/annotations/Foucaul2.html 
http://quotationsbook.com/quote/5107/ 
http://cartome.org/panopticon2.htm