PERSONAL ESSAY

Although Augé never explicitly mentions parking garages in his book , Non-Places, his anthropological investigation of supermodernity and space perfectly describe these multi-tiered structures of concrete nothingness. Non-places are unique to “developed” societies in which traces of cultural or localized roots have been replaced with diluted spaces that could be found anywhere across the industrialized world. As neither places for living or work, parking garages qualify as third spaces that represent the unmemorable venture between home and office. Parking garages only identify their occupants in terms of entering or leaving and do not consider their experience in between. They serve as temporary holding cells between Point A and Point B meant to facilitate transit— not enjoyment. The Ohio State University’s parking garages are no exception and represent sorely overlooked locations on campus.  

Instead of eliciting warm emotions of arrival on campus, the university’s garages create a sense of isolation and institutional detachment. Inconsiderate design has created environments of “solitude, directly linked with the appearance and proliferation of non-places” (75). These unkempt desolate facilities do not foster human interaction or a sense of personal identity. Signs, arrows, and colors create specific traffic conditions. The visitor only regains a sense of self at the ticket booth where they are reminded that their presence was accounted for —and will require a charge. Yet as Aug é points out, “the social begins with the individual” and we could not have a successful university like Ohio State without the individuals that collectively form our “buckeye nation”.  

In trying to promote a culture of care within such a large institution we must consider how to foster a sense of individual importance and connection. As designers, we must consider how our work affects the “other” in society. This project focuses on those who struggle with mental health and while depression can render a student feeling completely alone in their struggles, their pain is actually shared by countless others across campus. The university’s current approach of installing encouraging mental health signage throughout garages may proliferate a sense of distance with the institution, in turn creating the opposite emotional effect as intended. Although these signs are commendable in their efforts to extend hope, we as designers can offer a more subtle and universal approach to fostering a culture of care. In particular, interior designers focus on choreographing actions and movement within a space and can exert a limited amount of influence on the experience of those who enter an environment.  

While redesigning parking garages will not resolve issues of mental health, this process can begin to transform a non-place into a place—one that is activated by individuals and socialization. By affecting the experience of just one person, we can begin to combat the oppressive effects of supermodernity. We have witnessed the adverse effects of tragedy disband across a community of thousands, but what if the positive implications of a well-designed space began to spread as well? Even if only one person for one moment of one day benefits from an improved version of a non-place like a garage, the designers’ efforts will be worth it.