[Last modified: November, 22 2024 07:40 PM]
One of the things I noticed most distinctly in B Bagel on Tottenham Court Road was the conflicting ambiences of the space. The visual space was inviting, relaxed, and rather subtle. The lighting wasn’t at all harsh, there were lots of windows, wood, and plants. Just by looking, it seems like a space you would want to spend a lot of time in. The soundscape was a different story. Cafes are usually filled with the bustle of orders being called and people shuffling in and out, and music fades to the background. In this case, the music was one of the first things I noticed. It was aggressive pop music played really loudly, in stark contrast to the visual ambience of the shop. While visually it may appear to be a nice place to study, relax, and eat, the music shifted the setting greatly. Additionally, how the shop structures people to move through space with the layout and architecture was also interesting. The only comfortable seating was upstairs, and otherwise you needed to squeeze into a corner or take your bagels to go. The visuality of the space, the soundscape, and how it structures your body through space were all at odds.
A multimodal approach would be the best way to document this confliction and the ambience of the shop. While it can be described with text as I’ve done above, the only true way to understand it and get a clear sensorial understanding would be through a creative output. A recording of the soundscape, images or sketches of the space, and photography of the lighting would all recreate these ideas for the viewer and place them within the coffee shop. Especially when appealing to the senses, multimodal outputs can be especially important and useful. Text is still useful, but this multimodal approach can better visually and audibly craft the scene in the minds of the viewer. While this case focused on multimodal outputs, using multimodality during fieldwork and with interlocutors can be equally important to gain collaborative input and creation.