Material_Anthropology_(Revealed)

The July issue of Architect magazine asked five architects, including James Biber, to redesign Starbucks in light of the company’s recent downturn.

Starbucks created, or rather emulated, a mode of social/food service based on the Italian model: a place to go that is neither home nor work, a seriousness about the product and a relationship with the professional server. This worked quite well until the company’s growth demanded a level of efficiency and a range of offerings that contradicted with its casual atmosphere and original intent. At least that is what the company would say.

Another critical perspective might emphasize the company’s failure to change its approach as it grew from a few hundred to more than 15,000 locations. A small cult can approach business differently than a ubiquitous international chain, and Starbucks may be failing to recognize that it can’t package sincerity. Howard Schultz created the original idea; grew it into dysfunction and has now returned to save the company from itself (or from himself!) with a reinjection of his original ideas. It may be too late for those ideas, but it is not too late for a set of new ones. Read the entire article here.