PERSONAL ESSAY

What’s the difference between a designer and a social worker? On the surface, one could say many things: the job training, the technical work, and the environments in which the job takes place. However, after reading Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity by Marc Augé, I believe that if a designer is working to better non-places than the two professions are not that different. A non-place can be described as a place that is overlooked. Most of the time it’s a transitional space, like an elevator, hallway, airport. A user is benefited in a non-place by getting from Point A to Point B. However, according to the theory of supermodernity, non-places have the potential to serve the community in more productive ways. By applying supermodernity to non-places, these seemingly simple and mundane locations can be expanded to have meaning and intentionality. For example, an elevator can be thoughtfully designed to help the user connect with the world by fostering community or even make the user laugh. The intentions behind supermodernity and deliberate designing non-places connects the design profession to social work. 

The objective of social work is to help clients meet their goal through objectives and interventions. In other words, social workers encourage clients in ways to get from Point A to Point B. This sounds seemingly familiar to the goal of non-places. Now an effective social worker, would help a client complete this journey in a beneficial way. For example, if the client’s goal was to find a job to provide for their family, many paths could be chosen. A client could choose to become a drug dealer which would be a poor choice in the grand scheme of things, or the client could choose to apply for a job at the local restraint which would be the safer and smarter decision. In both scenarios, the client would be meeting their goal and traveling from Point A to Point B. The difference in the two examples is the connection to intentional designing. A social worker looks at the non-place or the transition in the client’s life and must design for them the most beneficial and thoughtful intervention for their life. These interventions tend to connect the client to themselves and their communities, which should also be the goals of designing non-places. Social work and non-places are all about transitions and how to make the most of the journey. 

Applying Marc Augé’s book to a non-place like a parking garage, allows for the people that use the garage to have a positive and intentional experience in the garage. The walls of parking garages could be beautiful and interesting. Instead, most (if not all) are grey, mundane, cement structures. Combining social work theories and practice with designing for supermodernity would allow for the elevation of conscious design decisions for non-places. User’s transitions would be a space for connectedness and elevating welfare.