PERSONAL ESSAY

In the essay Non-Places: an Introduction to Supermodernity​​, March Augé makes a distinction between places and non-places. Places are spaces that people inhabit that carry rich historical meaning and promote social life and creativity, while non-places are inhabited just as frequently but connect to humans in a uniform way and do not provide means for organic social life and interaction to form. I would like to add that what also distinguishes something from a non-place is that it is designed with care and with the intent of creating a culture of care for its inhabitants. The identification of non-places is unique because it defines environments and spaces that humans have​ to interact with. Many spaces that are overlooked in their original design fall into the category of third places​, which are areas that are unseen and underused because they aren’t identified as necessary or useful. Designers need to take the initiative to no longer treat non-places as third places because humans are interacting with them directly and inversely being affected by the spaces whether they know it or not.  

Designers of spaces have a very important job because human’s overall wellness is greatly impacted by the environments that they are interacting with and living in. The Ohio State University, and many other institutions, highlight environmental wellness​, the groups and physical spaces in which we live and interact with, as a major category of their wellness model. The schools wellness model and researchers argue that physical environments that promote good health for all, will actually promote quality of life/behaviors for individuals. That all being said, no matter where we are, especially on a campus that believes this to be true in their wellness model, human’s should feel cared for when interacting with a space simply by how it is designed. Because humans areas of wellness are so closely related to one another it is crucial that designers plan and create space that cultivate a culture of care for users.  

What does designing with a culture of care in mind look like? Designers should be thinking about how their designs have lasting impacts and that how they design a space can directly impact someone’s mental wellness, creativity, social connectedness, and emotional regulation as they are going about their day in what seem like mundane spaces. I think that the greatest way that designers can learn to succeed in their designing of environments is reminding themselves and one another who​ ​ it really is they are designing for. Instead of designing parking garages as places for cars to sit when people are at work, what if designers truly thought about these spaces as touchpoints for humans​ with real emotions, thoughts, and ideas floating around in their brains? What if designers took the initiative to design in ways that would stimulate people’s vast capabilities instead of neglecting their abilities all together?