why third spaces are sacred
mapping the demise and re-desire of third spaces. exploring the importance they play in battling loneliness and nurturing scenes
why third spaces are sacred
“A neighbourhood is not only an association of buildings but also a network of social relationships, an environment where the feelings and the sympathy can flourish.” -
Jane Jacobs
Alexi Gunner • idle gaze 002: Community thrives through bustling neighbourhoods and casual chatter.
Even prior to the pandemic, these institutions were shuttering, according to research. As Americans spend more time alone and practice individualized forms of leisure, like marathoning television series on streaming services and passively scrolling on social platforms, they aren’t gathering communally as often as they were in decades past — a shift... See more
Allie Volpe • If You Want to Belong, Find a Third Place
Part of the reason for the shift is that over the course of the 20th century, leisure started to become privatized. Rich Heyman, an American studies professor at the University of Texas told "The Atlantic" that, "As living conditions improved, people chose to sit with their nuclear families in front of televisions." But I guess
... See moreMina Le • Third Places, Stanley Cup Mania, and the Epidemic of Loneliness
You can be lonely anywhere, but there is a particular flavour to the loneliness that comes from living in a city, surrounded by millions of people.
Olivia Laing • The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone
Studies have shown that just having a diversity of folks in your life ... more informal and infrequent and unplanned, can be really protective for health and well-being,” Finlay says. “Classically, third places were sites where you could build up these bridging ties.”
Allie Volpe • If You Want to Belong, Find a Third Place
We’ve lost gradients of intimacy, a concept from architecture, the ability to loiter and meander through a space, engaging when we want in varying levels of expression. We don’t have any peripheral vision on the internet. We have to be in one place or the other. Simultaneously, we’re never really in any place—we can always blame connection issues a... See more
Spencer Chang • tiny internets: sidewalks, geocaching, and more · tiny internets
Ersatz third places can also be expensive, so think Soho House. So people who can't afford to hang out in one of them have to make do with under maintained, bare minimum public places. Oldenburg notes men drinking beers outside convenience stores in the parking lot because there's no seating actually inside the stores or teens gathering in a local
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