ABSTRACT
Spectacles have been traversing history in both the western and eastern hemispheres. Progressing from the original meaning of Roman games and pre-industrial festivals, carnivals, fairs and theaters, to that of radiophonic, televized, cinematic and/or Hollywood representations in both industrial and postindustrial societies, the meaning of spectacle has acquired such extensive recognition so as to apply potentially to each and every sphere of contemporary existence. The spectacularization of architecture and the built environment can in this respect be considered yet another ongoing and proliferating phenomenon far from full comprehension and analysis. What is unprecedented about contemporary spectacle and mega-spectacles, in fact, is its diversification and omnipresence, a tangled process of digitalization of information within which architecture is found originating even more structured models of manifestation of the spectacle. Now including such diverse configurations as tablets, mobiles and computers, the screen has by right become an overarching catalyst for the propagation of spectacle and the consumption of increasingly spectacularized forms of architecture. By far exceeding the idea of representation, theatre or performance, and part of a broader trajectory spanning from the Roman demagogic enactment of public entertainment, to the most recent outcomes of technocapitalism, the meaning of spectacle addressed in this section of the Handbook accommodates the progressively more diversified contexts within which contemporary architecture is either examined or materialized. Charged with social, political, cultural and economic implications, spectacle and spectacularization emerge as driving forces of the newly coined notions of media-driven events and spectacle 2.0.
