Erling Dokk Holm

Abstract:

This dissertation represents a discussion of coffee bars as an element in the urban landscape; it focuses on the coffee bar as a design typology, a historical reality, a social phenomenon and a cultural form. The dissertation presents a case study of four different coffee bars in Oslo, where the social, cultural and visual fabric of coffee bars are explored. The text explores how coffee bars are used, and what kind of purpose and meaning they offer to their users. The author presents a framework for understanding the changing aspects of urban life, discussing a variety of theoretical perspectives in the light of his empirical work. A special focus is offered on how both solitude and sociality is essential features characterizing coffee bars. This dissertation also explores how coffee bars – at a societal level – supply the current urban situation with an easily accessible discourse on urbanity.