Text and the City

'The St David's 2 (Dewi Sant) took ten years of planning and three years, but it is finally here and was a significant scale and importance to Cardiff. It was important for 'St David's 2' that the building design reflected Cardiff's unique arcade shopping experience whilst drawing on inspiration from European styling and cutting edge architecture. Inspiration for its design is a reflection of the pride of the City's and builds upon the hope for Cardiff as an international destination whilst fitting effortlessly into the mature and well loved existing fabric of the city centre.

Striking a balance between the engineering quality of the arcade and a lighter, more delicate touch for the finishes is important as we aimed to echo the discreet sense of scale and texture, unique to Cardiff and South Wales. Natural stone, light coloured timbers, reflected light and other natural materials will be employed to create a true sense of Welsh space. Interesting and exciting pieces of art will all help to create an identity for St David’s giving it a truly Welsh sense of place'.

(http://www.stdavidscardiff.com/)

It opened to the public during a grand launch on 22 October.

The photos that I have taken here are just a few of the many main entrances. The use of the orange text enables it to stand out. The whole shopping centre does seem to have a colour scheme of yellow, reds and oranges. The fact that the colours white, red and green have not been used which is significant as those are colours which represent Wales. The text is positioned just above the doors and is very clearly seen by the public passing by. The site that St David’s sits on is the same footprint area as the Millennium Stadium.

I feel that this new shopping complex is enabling Cardiff to become one of the major cities in the U.K, not only terms of a place for keen shoppers, but also becoming an international tourist destination. It will certainly put Cardiff on the map.

Working in a group with Kirk, his chosen text was of the Oceana Club.

Theoretical Concepts

Hegemonic Model


Hegemony is the power of the ruling class to convince to convince other classes that their interests are the interests of all; dominant groups have to convince other groups. It acknowledges the other positions of different people in society, and suggests they cannot have their own way by just producing something.

The media support and perpetuate dominant ideologies based on traditional values that are viewed by most as normal. This occurs due to the predominant ownership of media industries by middle – class, middle aged white men. This affects the messages and ideology within the media product, example, and subconscious fears of anyone outside the dominant ideology, or what is normal.


I found this concept facininating, because the truth of the matter is, they are all extremely true. Most women in todays society feel the need to change their appeareance in order to feel socially accepted.

Representation of women through consumerism

Liberation through consumer culture, fashion and beauty. Typical feminine preoccupations include shopping for clothes and shoes, spa pampering and beauty products which are all seen as empowering to women. The ‘L’Oreal’ notion, ‘because I’m worth it’ which is driven my makeover programmes and magazines show that this sort of consumerism defines a woman. As Bette Midler would say, ‘give the girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world’.