Shopping malls are a cornerstone of our consumer-oriented society. They are the hubs of capitalism, where people gather together to buy.

I mention this as I went on a trip to Vaughan Mills. This is frankly an awe-inducing place, with over 200 stores and more than 6000 parking spots. I wandered around with a camera; a circuit of the place took me about an hour.

I was considering how every location confers some sort of message to those who are there. For example, a house, being comfortable and personalized, allows its residents to relax because of the atmosphere of ownership and sanctuary. There are various disputes about how to set up an office building, but all are oriented towards increasing productivity. A shopping mall is set up in such a way that puts people into the mood to spend.

Vaughan Mills has tried to emulate a home environment to do this. Attention was given to the floors - they are nicely carpeted or wooden. The place was divided into several “neighbourhoods”, each designed to give a slightly different ambiance, each meticulously styled to a theme and colour. The music played was low-key and unobtrusive. The stores themselves were tidy in presentation and were not visually blaring inside or outside. Several stores had music playing that clashed with that in the hallway. Overall, the atmosphere was tuned to seem quiet with a restricted pallet. Oddly enough, the ceiling was left unfinished, which I found snapped this illusion instantly; this must not be the case for most others.

This metaphor played itself out quite humourously in this rest area. Here there were two banks of chairs that faced each other about 10 metres apart. Between them was an area rug and a coffee table (which was quite useless as nobody could reach it). However, the backs of each of the chairs were tilted upwards towards a circle of TVs, a truly essential element of every living-room metaphor.

Still, it was obvious the mall tried to make one’s time memorable. There were enough exotic elements, like a statue, specially-themed rest areas between “neighbourhoods”, and curiosities like an indoor waterfall. The mall is marketable as an experience, which keeps people returning.

But there were certainly elements of this place that gave it a bleak and empty atmosphere. There was an endless stream of people, few of which seemed concerned with anything friendly at all. The noise of everybody, even over the music, was constant.The mall was anything but a place of peace and relaxation for me.

I believe this is because the drive behind the mall is ideologically rotten. Rarely do we consider why the mall is there. Its objective, strangely enough, is completely different than the reason why people are there. People come to the mall for a social time, for the thrill of buying new things, to see what the market has to offer, to experience the thrill of such a large and exotic place. But they are given these things in order to make sure they come and spend.

This is based on a specific understanding of desire: that which we call consumerism. This philosophy presupposes that having material objects can produce a state of happiness. Therefore, desire describes want of some object, and obtaining that object has potential to produce happiness.

The curious problem is that people do not need to come to the mall due to this desire. The mall or store itself is set up to create it. People come to be thrilled, to have an experience, to be social; these are what produces the happiness. However, people are not unwilling to be part of this otherwise elaborate deception. They easily and willingly become consumers once there, for there is a certain ring to the consumerist promise.

And this brings out the very negative side of such a place. Everyone inside the mall becomes a generic “consumer”, with desire for some object(s) in their minds, and some sum in their pockets. Inside the microcosm of the mall, one becomes but the money in their purse. This brings out an impersonal attitude in many of the shoppers, which is evident.

The rest areas seemed occupied mostly by the elderly. They are a completely different bunch than the shoppers.

I visited a furniture store that was within. The extreme contrast between the busyness of the mall and the furniture was startling. Whereas the mall was set up to be exotic, there was noting less so than the furniture. Each article was some subdued off-white colour, or a dark brown or black. The shapes embodied simplicity and function. Perhaps even those who like shopping at malls need a retreat from such places.