Cafés are essentially third spaces that offer more than just coffee. Historically, they have had cultural, intellectual and social implications in the spatial domain. From coffeehouses to Bohemian cafés, they have played a significant role in public dialogues and community life. Nevertheless, café designs must balance aesthetics, function and commercial influence today.
Askel Tora and Graham Scambler’s introduction in their book Café Society (2013) remarks on how cafés’ roles have evolved to satisfy customer experiences in the modern world. It poses valuable questions about the shift of the cafés’ position from that of a social haven for public discourse to that of sterilised ‘cosmopolitan’ spaces. While also leaving room for more discussions, their view distinctly points towards the interconnectedness and networks that cafés inherently enable and how they have become an elemental component of urban life. Where else can one sit and attend a call or finish writing in the middle of the day when outdoors, if not at the comfortable café at the corner of the street?
Multi-functional, Minimal or Local?
Nowadays, cafés are more than just coffee. (Kim and Park, 2021) Many local cafés offer other activities that include coffee drinking. Some coffee shops offer books and magazines; some even include art galleries and workshops. The most worthwhile mention is the double use of coffee shops as workplaces. This ‘café culture’ of working and having physical and online meetings has expanded over the years, and many cafés consciously create spaces for users to feel welcome to co-work. Losing out on a quiet, friendly space is the biggest challenge that cafés face. Striking the right balance between privacy and publicness and widening the range of people cafés can cater to has been a noteworthy trend that global cafés have adapted to.
Many spaces are designed to be aesthetically inviting and Instagram-friendly, and cafés are no different. Appealing and unique spaces with cosy interiors attract more people, and cafés are designed to attract customers. A key difference between local and global coffee brands is the extent to which they are strictly functional and minimal. Where local coffee shops embody cultural and historical elements in their design, international companies prioritise simplicity, ease of recognition, and clarity of the services. However, this does not give leeway for historical authenticity as a commercial tool to brand cafés but emphasises the organic qualities that make cafés wonderful spaces for discussion and exchanging ideas.
Biophilic Design
Cafés’ shift to natural elements, such as integrating greenery, wood, and natural light, and their fascination with indoor tropical environments highlight the effect that sustainability studies and psychology studies have on interior design. Kellert’s book, Nature by Design: The Practice of Biophilic Design (2018), highlights the growing tendency to incorporate biophilic designs and how they help people feel closer to nature, reducing anxiety and fear.
While there are positive effects associated with biophilic design, and it is a means to liven up interior spaces, it can also come off as decorative and last-minute additions if not appropriately planned. In some cases, it can also undermine nature by downplaying nature as a stand-in for transactional values rather than real ecological impacts. Barber and Münster (2022) highlight how, in Hong Kong, greenery has become a marketing tool rather than a genuine effort to improve social life and transparency. This conflict between psychological and environmental bargains is vital because even small additions of natural environmental features can evoke psychological well-being; ecological solutions are often more expensive and need more effort.
Cafés as Cultural Expression
Ultimately, café designs reflect the society and the needs that we, as customers and designers, prefer to have as a backdrop to our coffee-drinking experience. Increasingly, cafés are becoming harder to categorise as one typology and are diverging to express different values. Cafés that do not only function for paying customers but also for people who bring their coffee and provide refuge for people are rare but welcome spaces in the urban realm. While cafés might not fall under the category of urban commons per se, they do have a social function wherein people feel welcome and invited.
Technology is ever-advancing and will always have cultural impacts. Integrating digital systems and self-serve kiosks has reduced social interaction. While they make the experience more efficient, they have also reduced the personal touch and social interaction that makes cafés lively. What is the difference between a supermarket and a café if stripped of social purposes? One might as well shop and eat at a supermarket rather than go to a café. Interior designers and architects must assess the importance of technology and weigh their necessity before jumping behind trends and gadgets. A designer’s role is to immerse oneself, extract, distil and assemble to increase inclusivity and cater to the people.
Thoughtful Futures
There is not one, but many possible futures, and architects and designers stand at decision-making divergences whenever they design. Their choices help hold a mirror and, at the same time, change how people use spaces. Therefore, it is of the essence that designers make right and just choices that do not alienate a few sections of society. Cafés have a small but noteworthy role to play in connecting people, and by de-colonising the ideas of café spaces and identifying who gets to use the third spaces, we can be more inclusive than we are today.
Historically, cafés have been necessary for social movements, and their function in society needs to be further responsive and culturally significant if we are to make a difference. Designing more culturally engaging and provoking cafés is the task designers must embrace in the coming years. Cafés need to move beyond aesthetics and commercial viability to provide a platform for discussions and become an authentic space. By developing forward-looking cafés which are inclusive and societal, designers can break away from visual trends and continue to evolve cafés into meaningful architectural spaces.
References:
Barber, L.B. and Münster, M.B. (2022) ‘Aspects of openness in Hong Kong coffee shops’, Interiors, 12(2–3), pp. 284–306. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/20419112.2023.2166745.
Kellert, S.R. (2018) Nature by Design: The Practice of Biophilic Design. Yale University Press.
Kim, J.-E. and Park, E.-S. (2021) ‘The Spatial Design Marketing Strategy of Global Franchises That Take into Consideration the Characteristics of Modern Consumers—A Study Involving the Global Coffee Companies of Starbucks and Blue Bottle’, Land, 10(7), p. 716. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070716.
Tjora, A. and Scambler, G. (2013) ‘Introduction’, in A. Tjora and G. Scambler (eds) Café Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 1–6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137275936_1.
