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Monthly Archives: September 2015
Thoughts on “Third Places” – Somin
Ray Oldenburg describes “Third Places” as places where we spend our time and get close to each other often sharing information. When I look at the characteristics of third places, I see it’s mixed of first place (home) and second place (work). It’s pleasurable like how we spend time at home. It’s also a place where we could share information like we usually do at work. According to Ray Oldenburg, we are having less and less places like third places. I somewhat understand why. We all know how technology and web-based service have been developed rapidly for last 2, 3 decades. Since we have internet, a lot of things can be accomplished online even creating communities.
Third places could be also different depending on what culture you have. Us, Koreans, have different cultural background comparing to American’s. When I think of third places in Korea, there’s none. Simply, we are not used to that. Another thing is that more and more Koreans don’t make time for neighbors nowadays. Only some Korean mothers who are very passionate about their children gather together to share school or after-class-activity related information. I won’t say this can be called so since it’s not pleasurable, moms are often competitive and even stressed out. Besides that, Koreans look for convenience a lot. For example, Ray Oldenburg mentioned laundromat as one type of third places. As far as I know, Koreans, who just came to America, prefer doing laundry in their own unit than doing it in public. Most of the houses in Korea have their own laundry machine and dryer so it makes Koreans naturally spend less time in public.
Though I was born and raised in Korea, I studied about 4 years in Vancouver, Canada where I experienced a bit what Oldenburg describes as third places. As a foreign student, I used to join language meetup every Monday night at a cafe downtown. There we usually talked about what we do, what we think about pretty much anything in multi languages. Now that I read this article, I remember how valuable time I spent in that cafe doing such unforgettable activities. We even met every weekend as well doing more fun activities such as cooking various traditional foods, going on a picnic, bicycling at Stanley Park, etc. I still contact many friends I met from the meetup. One of my friends I made from the meetup actually moved his school to one in Boston after having many talks about design and technology with me. I certainly remember many of us enjoyed our time talking and sharing information. I haven’t tried any language meetups here in NY yet, and I wonder if it’s similar to what I used to have in Vancouver since NY is such a busy city, people seem to have more stuff to do. I hope I could find one third place in NY for myself soon.
Filed under Readings, Third Places
Max’s Thoughts on “Third Places”
Ray Oldenburg discusses many opportunities and benefits for cultivating “Third Places,” several of which resonated closely to me. Though, some of these moments felt very idealistic and generally unwieldy.
As a native New Yorker, I grew up visiting central park playgrounds near my home very often, creating bonds and relationships with the kids and families in the neighborhood. Rather than a local deli, or grocer, the playground, or public park areas surrounding were a “Third Place.” Interestingly, some relationships and friendships made there were exclusive to the park. My park-friends were a category of their own. Of course, at a young age, conversation was hardly stimulating, but looking back at the space now, it’s interesting to think about the considerations of the planners that designed these public “places”. Benches lined the entire outer areas of the playground we visited, and while some visitors might sit, this public organization considered many use cases from the parents, babysitters, or other casual visitors that might want to socialize, and create a “Third Place” of their own (if perhaps they didn’t want to swing on the monkey bars that day).
Oldenburg mentions chemistry in his personal observations towards the end of the article. The accessibility of the park by foot, and planning of the architectural layout of these parks were certainly no mistake, according to Oldenburg. I’d agree with this notion, although, perhaps he is offering a bit too much credit to the planners in their efforts to generate community and political debate etc. While considerations were taken, I’m curious how much of the city code/park regulations and the like were considered over community nourishment, and “Third Places”.
I would most definitely agree with Oldenburg’s point on visitor neutrality in parks and “Third Places”. The simple enjoyment of visiting the park and leaving on your own accord offers a minimized commitment and brevity to the experience that is rare otherwise. In an idealistic world, this laxity would stimulate conversation, and “we take our relaxation with people, we grow to like them, and as we come to like them we are inclined to “do for them””. These notions seem a bit far-fetched, and…wishful, but maybe that’s the New Yorker in me.
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Additionally, Oldenburg’s early focus on suburbia as this prison-like atmosphere by suggesting an “easy escapes from the cabin fever of marriage and family life” is very specific and I’d be curious to see his value systems be applied to a more rural setting, like New York, where everything is public, walkable, and interactive. That said, I feel as if there is less community in my neighborhood (Lower East Side) than one might have in a Brooklyn, or Hoboken-like setting. I’d suggest that it’s a level of security, and distrust in the general public in New York. The constant contact and interaction with those on the subway, street, sidewalk, and otherwise in combination with the crime, dirt, and pace of the city generate an (at times) negative connotation and general irritation with one another. Again, in a suburban setting, I think Oldenburg’s Laws may thrive, but in a city like New York – I’d be skeptical to embrace a lot of his reasoning for “Third Places”.
In comparison, I spent the summer in San Francisco, where, aside from the consist characters, people are generally more friendly, polite, and welcoming. After several weeks, I was on a first name basis with the barista at a local coffee shop, while in New York, my relationships are few and very far between at any establishment. Again, maybe the sheer volume, pace and overall congestion of New York offers a unfortunately cyclical cynicism for one another that even a “Third Place” can’t solve.
Filed under Readings, Third Places
F15 Week 1
Week 1
Honing our sensory understanding of the spaces we inhabit, understanding the importance of delivering a cohesive experience through multiple senses, and introductions
- Reading – Oldenburg Our Vanishing 3rd places. Create a blog post that has two ideas from the reading that stand out to you. Put it under the “Third Places” category. This is due by Sunday 13.
- Assignment – quick dirty individual project – take a project or an aspect of a project you have done at SVA (ideally your thesis) and locate it somewhere in the NYC subway system. Create a simple 3-5 minute presentation of it. Put a link to it or post it under the “Quick Indie Project” category.
Filed under Weekly Assignments
Welcome 2015 Public Interfacers
Hello-
Hopefully you all have usernames and passwords for this blog.
I am looking forward to meeting each of you and exploring methods of designing for pubic space. The syllabus has been mostly updated if you want a sneak preview.
See you all Tuesday the 8th at 6pm.
-Michael
Filed under Uncategorized