PERSONAL ESSAY

We spend so much of our human lives in airports, hotels, highways, and in front of ATMs. We are so out of touch with these “non-spaces” that we don’t even notice them as places. Are we really perceiving this time at all? Society has constantly put more pressure and status on the systems that help our lives along than the history or science behind these processes. For example, we have landfills that keep trash out of our streets and drinking water. This system keeps our lives running smoothly from the trash cans in our homes to the garbage trucks but after that? The majority of society doesn’t think about what happens once it is out of their hands. It goes to the landfill: a non-space. How about the constant war between global or local priorities? The systems across the globe differ locally, and the systems that people interact with more seem to hold more precedence over global systems. Think of landfills again, there are many local landfills and everyone seems to know where their local landfill is but what about the global consequences? All of these systems that we interact with daily come with a subconscious ignorance. The choices we make when deciding what is more important, system vs. history and global vs. local, shape the aesthetics, art, and architecture that surround them. As Marc Augé says, “All of these projects have their own particular local and historical justifications, but in the final analysis their prestige comes from worldwide recognition.” 

Contemporary creative minds often find themselves looking deeper into ‘non-spaces’. We feel the need to discover the beauty within the overlooked, in places where it is not so apparent. I think this process of discovery amidst uncertainty is what keeps us from falling into the pattern of the systems and keeps our minds sharp. Although, some people are directly concerned with the world’s misery and urgent issues. Issues of housing, construction or reconstruction. These are undoubtedly problems that need solutions and some get the chance to make change in these important places. So some questions come to surface: Should we be directing our focus to the areas of need or non-places? Is there an overlap? Is one more effective?