An Investigation of Spatially Fluid Knowledge within the Retail System

Design, as an activity, produces its own stock of knowledge that is embedded or encoded within design objects. It is through increased interactions with users that this knowledge evolves, generating new levels of meanings to establish significant, personal connections. The design object can be viewed as containing the designer’s expertise, which is communicated and made transferrable to the user. This form of knowledge is mediated by the connoisseur, represented here by the physical layout of the retail space. Using the example of a vertical retail complex in Hong Kong, this paper examines the fluid nature of knowledge against the restrictions imposed by the mall’s spatial configuration. The retail space is simulated as a system of knowledge transference, exchange and diffusion. Knowledge, specifically design knowledge, is further discussed within the domain of design activities and as an extension of design expertise. User experience is framed against the context of the case-study, suggested as an antecedent to user-object interaction and resulting in experiential knowledge. This conceptual paper identifies the retail structure as assuming the role of the connoisseur and becoming the access point to knowledge, presenting the tension between the fluidity of knowledge and the disruption of its natural flow.