PERSONAL ESSAY

Efficiency is at the essence of any ideal future of society. We are creatures of productivity, constantly moving and looking for ways to make our routine as efficient as possible.  From the emergence of autonomous vehicles to the ubiquitous nature of online shopping, the desire for rapid processes and limited idle time have only increased with the pace of daily life. With its increased pace, comes a decrease in its organic nature. Today, society is a construct of systems within which a person can be replaced by an identity-less singular. In his book, Non-Places, Marc Augé writes about how supermodernity and specifically, non-places, lend themselves to a world with users and consumers in place of people and humans. Marc Augé coined the word non-places to describe spaces of “circulation, consumption, and communication” (VIII).  Conversely, places are spaces characterized by sociology socialization or societal and human interaction. Non-places are areas that people merely pass through. Due to their impersonal nature, non-places are the expenses where people within nonplaces are viewed as users and consumers rather than individuals. Stripping the identity of the individual in turn creates feelings of isolation and conformity. As society strives for efficiency, non-places are becoming more abundant. As people pass through more and more of these nonplaces, there is a potential for increased feelings of isolation. As we gain efficiency, we are losing human connectivity. However, increasing human connection does not require a decline in efficiency. Instead, we ask ourselves how can we transform these non-places, these places of circulation, consumption, and communication? 

The purpose of this collaborative studio is to explore the role design has within the transformation of non-places. Effective design in a non-place has the ability to give a sense of identity back to individuals, lessening feelings of isolation.  Specifically, parking garages are places where we believe design intervention can be successful in suppressing the disconnection from humanity. Design in non-places may be applied through a disruption in the idleness of one’s routine in order to invoke feelings of self-identity and worth. A parking garage has the potential to be far more than a concrete structure circulating cars and users. 

In a society where circulation and efficiency is at the root of future plans, designers bear part of a collective responsible for ensuring the security of humanity and self-identity within these systems. Parking garages are a singular amongst a multitude of non-places with the same potential to re-instill individualism amongst those interacting with them.