4. space and movement
We experience movement as part of ordinary life. From the fine scale haptic gestures we use as we swipe, scroll and pinch the touch-sensitive screens of our smartphones, to the broad scope movements across distances as we travel. At the personal scale, how we move influences our thoughts. [Mind in Motion, B. Tversky © 2019 Hachette Book Group, New York] We read physical movement at a social scale. No words are spoken, but meaning is clearly conveyed. One can observe a conversation from afar – beyond earshot – and by observing gestures and physical actions of the people conversing, clearly understand much of the discussion. Our physical actions make up a great deal of how we effectively communicate with one another. In the context of place, our bodily actions are picked up by those around us, whether paying direct and active attention or passively otherwise. How we move in space affects how we, and others, experience the place.
Our physical movements happen as a result of some combination of action and reaction. Picking on the idea of intentionality, we can describe our actions as in pursuit of purpose. Our reactions, similarly, can be described as in response to external conditions (including our own actions or anticipated actions of others), with various goals ranging from self-preservation to active social engagement.
The physical environment impacts our movement. Increasingly, we allow the digital “space” to influence how we move as well. We naturally read the others in motion. How we read our physical environment is of equal importance. Designers often assume universal spatial literacy. However, not every human reads and responds to their environment according to the “universal case.” Much attention is being devoted today to inclusive design. Presuming inclusion means the absence of exclusion, it behooves designers to carefully probe their assumptions about place design to consider the range of behaviors, intentions, experiences, and meaning that are necessarily part of what makes a place.
