Outline of more to come
Here’s a rough outline of future topics to expand upon. Let me know which ones are of greatest interest to you.
BEGIN HERE: place : being - attention, “dwell”, “delve”, presence, lingering … beholding space. Awe: the grandeur of cathedrals is magnificent to behold; I'm quite certain that there is similar witness to behold in ordinary places … such as homes. What does good space feel like? As humans, we are constantly seeking somewhere where we can live, breathe, love and rest* (*citation: Carlo Carretto, “Summoned by Love”, (c) 1978 Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY). In other words, the spaces we seek are fundamental — if not purposeful — to our sense of being. These are spaces we seek daily; grand, awe-inspiring experiences perhaps remind us of the goodness and comfort of those spaces and places we refer to as home.
Counterpoint: we live here. (Ref: Ray Suarez “We are Home” (c) 2024, Little Brown and Co, NY). Some of us are unsheltered and experience various forms of insecurity that keep us on the run … in search of a place to belong. Freedom lacks universality. If you’re “not from here” where are you? How can space become a place of refuge, safety, sanctuary … belonging? In what ways might space establish trust?
which comes first: people or space? As long as there are people, people will need places, and such places are necessarily a shared resource. How do we design places - ranging from personal scale, to family scale, community scale, urban and regional scales - given a new paradigm for mobility? Reframing this question — which comes first: movement or space? The argument here is that movement (i.e. people in the general case) is impacted by space; therefore movement is the basic precondition with space contrived to influence movement, and thereby experience.
“if you build it they will come” segment from 1989 film Field of Dreams (Universal Pictures https://www.fieldofdreamsmoviesite.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3c_pJ_CLJQ)
So … who will come? What about space designed with future generations in mind?
what makes … “space”? Internal space and external space (personal and physical)
space : identity - what name do we give space? when does “space” become “place”?
Buildings can be seen as a witness to those who have gone before us, who were as their witness to the irresistible force which guided them in the vision and efforts of so many people for so many years.
authenticity of space - purposeful-ness and individual / collective experience. attitude toward and associations with spaces
remembering space - what about a space causes us to remember it / forget it? personal and collective memory. Shared experiencs: movement in unison in shared spaces can invoke feelings of awe which in turn reinforce the meaning and memorability of the experience (e.g. worship spaces, stadiums, arenas, theaters, etc.). Symbolism - water, pattern, threshold, enclosure / covered space (e.g. porticos), stairs (entry sequence), etc.
space influences how we move, which influences how we think - how do we experience this; how do we craft this? Choice and space; plausible paths, fluency, etc. (re: Eric J. Johnson, “The Elements of Choice”, (c) 2021 Eric J. Johnson, Riverhood Books, New York)
culture and space; locality and bioregional experiences of space; high context versus low context; proxemics; collectivist versus individualist culture and the nature of space; geography and space, particularly in the context of climate change and impact on culture
emergence: ongoing experience of space; innovation and disruption
role of bias in design of space; generational differences / preferences; decision making for now versus a long time in the future / language of design: formalism versus experience and how to describe design as a future state (versus application of established concepts)
color, texture, material and patterns found in good spaces, from “ordinary” space to “extraordinary” space; biophilic design considerations
space advantage: exploitation versus stewardship / reciprocity.
prospect / refuge
productivity and creativity and the impact of space
transactional space versus sanctuary space
welcome and hospitality: what’s the role of space?
space : movement : meaning : belonging : imagination
ephemera and heritage - rhythms, patterns, culture and meaning of place over time;
time for space / space for time — achieving “flow”; spaces that are conducive for particular activities (e.g. creating, “making”, socializing, etc.)
scales: time and physical and social - kinship spaces; community spaces; public spaces
old space - new space: what’s the difference?
space and comfort and happiness
spatial literacy - context, syntax, vocabulary, typology, scale, symbolism, the process of spatial thinking and learning; proxemics; hippocampus and spatial-cognitition, and meaning
Spatial decisions: how do we decide? Space influences how we move which in turn influences how we think. How do we think through the process of choosing and using spaces?
The architecture of choice and choice architects (Eric J. Johnson, “The Elements of Choice”, (c) 2021 Riverhead Books, New York)
Age as a variable: how people of different ages relate to space
Instinct versus reason and approach to design
“network-based systems” - the evolving nature and impact of infrastructure on people spaces
space and social infrastructure - characteristics of space that help support equitable, inclusive and healthy socialization (re: Eric Klinenberg, “Palaces for the People”, (c) 2018, Broadway Books, New York). Oscar Newman, “Defensible Space”, (c) 1973, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York
underutilization of space: exploration of underlying themes in common with underutilization of spaces supporting commercial offices and faith-based organizations? A couple ideas: rise of distrust in institutions; lack of sense of purpose as seen by millennials and the younger generations; whatever happened to belonging?
