Solstice
Café Solstice is on the Ave and fairly close to the University. It had very little in the way of street advertising, but outdoor seating gives a clue as to its purpose. The inside is not that bright, despite the numerous windows in the front area. The entrance opens into a little hallway type thing that leads to the baristas, who stand behind a bar-style seating area. The café has large tables and chairs, fairly close together, and also a raised platform with a couch and additional seating. The music playing in the café was almost overwhelmingly loud and had lyrics. There was a mixture of people talking, studying and just generally chilling. Solstice was our meeting point and not really a point of study, more a reference for comparison of the other two shops.
Star Life
Star Life is a difficult place to get to, and therefore has little street presence. One must be in the know to get there, and entrance requires one to master the stairs, then go behind a fence, then turn into a nearly hidden storefront. Once inside, to the left one encounters the barista, to the right and front, seating. The barista is hidden from most of the customer’s lines of sight once they sit down, unlike at Solstice where the baristas were visible from all points. The noise coming from the barista was barely audible. The music was also light and had no lyrics. There was a lot of natural light, and lamps scattered throughout provided a brighter experience than that of Solstice. In fact, Star Life as a whole was a more comfortable place, not only in the bright lighting, but the fact that it resembled a home. There was a fire place, random plants, and none of the chairs and tables appeared to match or belong in a commercial environment at all. It was also a smaller area overall, and this combined with the pastel colors added to the homey atmosphere. Most people there were studying or talking quietly, and the mood overall was relaxed and subdued.
Trabant
Trabant is just off the Ave and fairly well known, but seems to have very little street presence. It is a completely flat store front, which gives it the ability to blend into the surrounding area well, despite the large front windows. The windows look in on bar style seating that surrounds the indoor perimeter of the shop. The shop itself seems to be separated into three different parts; upon walking in, one encounters part one, which contains the ordering area and couple of tables. One then can go under a giant arch to find more bar seating, tables, and stairs up to part three, a balcony with even more seating. The whole shop is industrial in appearance, composed of dark blues, steel grays and brown coloring. There were exposed pipes and steel railings, which added to this industrial feeling. The chairs and tables were uniform in appearance and
black/brown. The large amount of square footage meant that the tables were far enough from each other that they seemed to be their own independent islands. Light music was playing, but it was barely audible, and the lyrics completely unintelligible. The barista was loud and audible in all parts of the shop, and the acoustics of the place meant that conversations were amplified. Not much talking went on overall, and a third of the people had laptops and were thus cut off from the people around them even more. Most sat alone. The lighting was less than in Star Life. There were a couple of plants, but they were dead/looked out of place.
Results
In this study, we used both Jacobs’ Looking at Cities and Zeisel’s Physical Traces and Environmental Behavior in our observations of the coffee shops. In all the shops we visited, there was a mix of people studying, meeting to talk, or just generally sitting/playing games/reading. However, it was noticeable that there were a higher proportion of students than one might normally find in a coffee shop in all three shops studying, due to the proximity of all three shops to the university. It was noticeable also that all three shops seemed to have a different use. Solstice had some people studying, but seemed more like a place to meet up; the tables were larger, and the atmosphere was more jovial. The loud music and dark atmosphere, as well as placement right on the Ave made this a place for groups to get together. Star Life, meanwhile, had a homelike atmosphere, and in fact, may have even been a house at some point. This physical trace made it feel like a more tranquil place, and people used it not only for studying but quiet conversation as well. It’s somewhat hidden location, as well as placement away from the main Ave hang outs, as well as the fact that it was smaller, quieter, and had only one barista meant that overall people going there were there for a purpose, such as studying or meeting someone, and the placement off the street made it an acknowledged place for quiet multipurpose use. Meanwhile, Trabant’s layout (the island tables) made it more multipurpose than the other two, as both a place to talk and to study, but the larger size made it far more of an impersonal experience, whereas one might go to Star Life for a community atmosphere. In addition, the large windows opening to the street made it seem more connected to the outside world, then like the haven from the world that was Star Life. Each coffee shop was used for similar purposes, yet each had unique characteristics that gave them different "vibes" and modes of use.
In this study, we used both Jacobs’ Looking at Cities and Zeisel’s Physical Traces and Environmental Behavior in our observations of the coffee shops. In all the shops we visited, there was a mix of people studying, meeting to talk, or just generally sitting/playing games/reading. However, it was noticeable that there were a higher proportion of students than one might normally find in a coffee shop in all three shops studying, due to the proximity of all three shops to the university. It was noticeable also that all three shops seemed to have a different use. Solstice had some people studying, but seemed more like a place to meet up; the tables were larger, and the atmosphere was more jovial. The loud music and dark atmosphere, as well as placement right on the Ave made this a place for groups to get together. Star Life, meanwhile, had a homelike atmosphere, and in fact, may have even been a house at some point. This physical trace made it feel like a more tranquil place, and people used it not only for studying but quiet conversation as well. It’s somewhat hidden location, as well as placement away from the main Ave hang outs, as well as the fact that it was smaller, quieter, and had only one barista meant that overall people going there were there for a purpose, such as studying or meeting someone, and the placement off the street made it an acknowledged place for quiet multipurpose use. Meanwhile, Trabant’s layout (the island tables) made it more multipurpose than the other two, as both a place to talk and to study, but the larger size made it far more of an impersonal experience, whereas one might go to Star Life for a community atmosphere. In addition, the large windows opening to the street made it seem more connected to the outside world, then like the haven from the world that was Star Life. Each coffee shop was used for similar purposes, yet each had unique characteristics that gave them different "vibes" and modes of use.
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