Examples of thirdspace
From Geography
Contents |
First example of Thirdspace
A beach can be used as an example of thirdspace. You can define the place with firstspace as a patch of sand leading into the ocean. Where secondspace will describe it as a place for sunbathing, swimming, surfing, relaxing. Thirdspace sees the beach as a combination of the sand, ocean, sun and surf. A place where people meet, socialize or play games. Where people go to exercise, get inspiration or perform arts. An ongoing place where things will continue to happen and is everchanging.
Second example of Thirdspace
An example of a third space could be a mosque. The first place is the building itself. Most of the time with beautiful architecture that grabs the attention right away between other ‘normal’ buildings. The second place is the goal of the building; the confession of faith. People do their prayings five times a day and listen to the readings of the Imam. A mosque In this example of a third place is more than just a building. It is a meeting point for Muslims. Besides the praying and readings from the Imam to get inspired and to get answers to their questions, it is also a social meeting point that goes beyond the Islam. People come together to have dinner and talk about their social life. How they, and their families are doing is most of the time an important question. Therefore there is also a way of social control. Which of the family members are at the Mosque and do good? What is the rest of the family doing and what are they accomplishing in life? The mosque is also helping with education, organizing charity and sport activities. So it’s the social that plays an important role and is way more relevant than the building itself and is ongoing.
Third example of Thirdspace
A slum could be a thirdspace. The firstspace would be the actual conjuncture of handmade shacks, set up closely together, mostly situated on urban outskirts or difficultly usuable space in the urban realm. A slum as second space could be a place of refugee, lost or forgotten urban patches invaded by or made up by the urban poor, or migrants coming from outside the city, mainly the rural land looking for a place to stay. One could mention a slum as thirdspace the informal city, a city whitin a city but lacking of formal rules and access to formal services. Beyond the formal, people are looking for their own spatial justice and set up their own places to live.
Fourth example of Thirdspace
An example of thirdspace could be a gym. In this case the first space would be the building itself. Every gym looks different, but it is possible to give a general description of the building. Mostly gyms are located in cities. Within the building there are separate changing rooms for men and woman, a information desk and halls with sportsdevices, such as treadmills and cross trainers. To understand the second space of a gym, you have to look to the function of this building. People came with different motivations to a gym, to lose weight, to improve their condition or to get stronger and foster some muscles. All these people have in common that they want to train their body. A gym is from the point of view of Thirdspace more than just a place were you are working on you body. It's a social place where you come together with friends and meet new people. For many people sports is an obligation and it is not always easy to go each time. So the gym is a place where people motivate each other to keep on training, even if you don't feel like it. But besides "the training together reason", it is a place where you talk with other people about the daily stuff, how your day was and what your plans are for tommorrow. In Thirdspace the gym is a meetingpoint to socialize.
Fifth example of Thirdspace
Another example of thirdspace is someones home. In this case the first space would be the building, the house itself. This includes the walls, doors, windows, kitchen, and everything else a home usually contains. These features are objectively visual in everyones home. When we look at the second space of a home we can name a few things, which are the functions of the place. You can think about living, sleeping, eating, and much more things one can do in their own home. But when we look at the third space of someones home we see the more symbolic aspects of the place. Here one can think of 'feeling yourself at home' or using the couch to sleep on. When one uses the couch to sleep on, this person is interpreting the couch as a bed, which is actually not the case.
Sixth example of thirdspace
A sixth example of what thirdspace can be can be given by the example of the university. In this example the first space is the actual campus, the touchable things where the campus consists of. In the second space, it is about the functions the university is there for. In a university, this is mainly studying, following lectures and doing group assignments. When looking at a third space in the case of university, you can look at it differently. for example, university can be used in a way what it was not initially was meant for, like meeting with friends over a cup of coffee.
References
- Edward W. Soja (1996) Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and other real-and-imagined places. Oxford: blacknell, pp. 53-82
- Website El Fath mosque in Amersfoort http://www.moskee-elfath.nl/over-ons/activiteiten
Contibutors
- Page created by--DennisPrince 14:01, 8 October 2012 (CEST)
- First example added by--DennisPrince 14:01, 8 October 2012 (CEST)
- Second example added by--JesperRemmen 16:32, 20 October 2012 (CEST)
- Third example added by----AnneStrien 09:44, 21 October 2012 (CEST)
- Fourth example added by--LarsPaardekooper 11:53, 22 October 2012 (CEST)
- Fifth example added by Malou van Woerkum, 23 october 2012
