The new issue of MAS Context, a quarterly publication released by MAS Studio takes on the daunting issue of production and consumption impacting cities through the lens of a handful companies operating out of Chicago. Production and consumption have a negative connotation in today's atmosphere of sustainability and conservation but architecture is fundamentally a celebration of the craft of inventing, designing and making. MAS Studio, in collaboration with Chicago-based collective The Post Family, looks critically at the social, environmental, and political implications of consumer culture while celebrating the excellence of production.
The essays within MAS Context drift between subjects, blending our economic realities with a social context. In Requiem, Deborah Richmond explores how the congestion of brand identity has evolved into a reflection upon personal values. Our consumer choices have become social causes - organic, fair trade, local anyone? And the market, in the US anyway, bends to accommodate the growing fads and trends to bring the consumer what he or she wants - the ultimate commodity.
