#right angles

Just a reminder:

Right angle

'The lobby that's there is really just shunting you into these other profit spaces,' Schüll told me. 'Carpets are not supposed to ever have right angles because this would mean casino patrons have to stop and reflect and make a conscious decision to turn into a gaming area. Instead, you want to curves bodies around. And the places they sit are covered, enclosed, very welcoming little cocoons where they can disappear in front of these slot machines. It's a logic of convolution and confusion. These are the actual words they use. It's called space elimination. It's not like modern architecture where you have clear lines of sight. You're trying to give people perspective. They're trying to take people's perspective away and move them where they want them to go. This logic, which plays out in the carpets and even how far the ceiling comes down, is also playing out in the design of the cabinets and screens. Disorientation is a design strategy. They want to keep patrons in a zone where—and I'm quoting from a casino design manual—they remain "open and permeable to emotional triggers." No clocks. Clocks are like a right angle. It brings you into time and space. It locates you. They don't want you to feel located. They want to disorient you.'