SPACE AN UNSPEAKABLE LANGUAGE

Language of space is a global one, since many of its roots can be found in fundamental characteristics of the human race. Whilst Urdu, English and Spanish, etc are spoken by many millions of people in many countries, the language of space is truly international.

It’s well known fact that communicating by telephone is way different then communicating ‘face to face’. It tells us how people are arranged in space. They are not ‘back to back’, because they actually want to see each other’s faces! This is very basic stuff. Unfortunately, it is so fundamental that we often forget about it when designing spaces. Not all behavior in space involves conversation, but much of our behavior in space involves communication in some way or other.

If truth is served properly, throughout our lives we probably communicate far more through space than we do with formal language. When we walk into a room, others are reading this spatial language long before we speak. What we wear, how we smell, the manner of our walk, our facial expression, where we choose to sit, the way other people look at us and acknowledge us. We use the language of space, then, for many purposes. Through it we can express both our individuality and our solidarity with others. We can indicate our values and lifestyles, allegiances and dislikes.

We can use it to help generate feelings of excitement or calmness. We can communicate our willingness or otherwise to be approached, interrupted, greeted and engaged in social intercourse. We can control the proximity of others. We can demonstrate our dominance or submission and our status in society.

We can use it to bring people together or keep them apart. We can use it to convey complex collections of rules of acceptable behavior. We also use it on occasion to signal our intention. Of course, we often behave in space to some particular purpose, such as shopping, playing sport, moving from room to room.

On other occasions we are less purposeful, as when strolling, relaxing in an armchair and even taking a nap. Even when we are not there, spaces that belong to us or come under our control still communicate through the way we have laid them out and decorated them.

This language of space is a global one, since many of its roots can be found in fundamental characteristics of the human race. Whilst Urdu, English and Spanish, etc are spoken by many millions of people in many countries, the language of space is truly international.