I’m travelling down from the new glitzy St Pancras International station to (perhaps) rather less glitzy Sutton. Arriving early at the station I wander around to look at what shops are there. I’m drawn to Pret a Manger (though I don’t go in). In striking contrast to the harsh overhead glare of the main area of the station (and most of the other shops), Pret has low ambient lighting, appealing comfy-looking chairs and strains of what sounds like 40s jazz drifting out into the station.
And yet something seems wrong. It’s not the 40s, this isn’t a late-nigt, smoke-filled underground jazz bar. It’s a retail store trying to entice me in to buy sandwiches using music and interior design to evoke this set (or similar) of connotations.
It’s a fake. A surface pretending to a depth it does not, can not offer.
But is it?
How is it any more fake than a 40s underground smoke-filled jazz bar deploying music (jazz) and décor (grungy, low lighting) to attract in punters to buy alcohol? What is fake about these surfaces (or, what would be the depth that would make it authentic – would the music being live make any difference?)?
And even if it is fake (which I’m not sure it is), then does that matter? If deploying music and lighting can make a (relatively) appealing environment to sit for a time, think, chat, read and have a coffee – or even just to look and listen in on as you pass and feel momentarily lifted – then is that really a bad thing?
