Examples of thirdspace
From Geography
Definition
Third space is a postmodern view of the world around us. We can see a place as a first place like a classroom as a room with tables in it and a blackboard on the wall. The postmodernistic view of this concept overcomes this bounded thinking and looks at places in a more open way. Postmodern thinkers see more possibilities for this room. You can for instance have a party in that room. by creating a new concept and constantly editing the function of the place we constantly evolve the function and the ideas about the function of that specific place (Arentsen et al. 2004)
First example of Thirdspace
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.
Seventh example of thirdspace
A seventh example of thirdspace could be a swimming pool. The firs space in this example would be the building itself: the walls, the bath, the slide, the dressing room and everything else a swimming pool contains. This is objectively visual. The second place is the goal of the building: swim. Most people go to a pool to swim. When we think of the thirdspace of a swimming pool, we can look at it differently. People meet at a swimming pool to chat, drink a coffee, eet something and to just have fun with friends. These are activities where a pool primarily was not intended for.
Eight example of thirdspace
Another example of the thirdspace could be a cafe. The first space of a cafe is the building of the cafe. In general it is a (big) building with a bar, crutches, tables, seats, a dancefloor, toilets, a wardrobe for coats and sometimes a kitchen. It contains what most cafes have, what is objectively visual and touchable. The second place actually is the function of a cafe. Peope go ta a cafe to buy drinks and meals. The cafe is a place where people can dance and can meet other people. Thinking of the third space of a cafe, people go to cafes to make fun, go crazy and to meet new people. They want to get drunk for some reasons, or somethimes without any reason, they want to spend a night in the cafe to flirt with other people. They also go to cafes because they have something to celebrate like a birthdayparty or a bachelorparty, and sometimes there is an organized party in the cafe. For example a party from a study of the university. People also go to cafes for business lunches, then they already know who they are going to meet at the cafe.
Ninth example of thirdspace
A bakery could be seen as an example of Soja's thirdspace. In this example I will use bakery Bart, located in the city centre of Nijmegen. The first space of the bakery seems to be pretty obvious. It can be seen as the physical building of the bakery itselfs. This physical aspects includes the counter, the cash register, bread racks, advertising posters, chairs, benches the bricks, and the phisical location where the bakery is located. If we talk about the second space of the bakery, the bakery has a functional character for many people comming there. Clients of the baker are provided in their need for bread, snacks, coffee or other consumptions. Looking at the third space of Bakey Bart, it becomes a lot more interesting. The bakery for example is in the morning around 8am a space for construction workers to get by. Most of them start at 6am and are relieved when they have their first brake at 8am, the opening time of the bakery. For these construction workers the bakery is also a space of social interaction with other construction workers. Besides only having a snack they interact with eachother and also have small talks with the employees of the bakery. Another group who creates its own thirdspace at the bakery are the shoppers. After a several hours of shopping, the shoppers, espacially men, get tired and decide to have something to eat at 'Bakker Bart'. Besides providing in their need for food, the Bakery is a space of rest. Shoppers in the Bakery can take a deep bread, so they are able to continue shopping. A lot of other groups create their third space in the bakery. For example scholars, bussiness men and shopkeepers. For all of them 'Bakker Bart' has a specific meaning.
Tenth example of thirdspace
In this section the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is used as an example for the first, second and third space. As a first space you can the airport as a couple of buildings with some planes and some airstrips. This is the physical point of view. When you look at it as second space you can see the function of it. The airport is the location where planes are arriving and departing with (or without) people. The third space is made by the people and it is how the experience it. There are people who come together at the airport to work, people who come together to drink a coffee and meet new people, but also people come there to say goodbye or welcome people.
Eleventh example of thirdspace
Office buildings can be seen as building of bricks with windows, stairs and elevators. This the first space. As a second space it is a building created for working. It is a place for working and meetings. As a third space it can be seen as a place where come together to have discussions, to invent new products or to chat with each other. A concrete example of third space these days are officebuildings used as anti-squat place. As a third space they use it as a place to live, to eat to cook. The former Shell Office is Amsterdam has been used as a anti-squat location. As a third space it has been used by artists as a art gallery or even a museum.
Twelfth example of thirdspace
In this text a stadium will be used to make a example of a third space. Within the first space a stadium is a building with stairs, allot of seats and a lawn in the middle. So the first space is just the physical environment of a place. When we look to a stadium as a second space. It is a place for people to look at sport games. So the second space is the practical space. But when we look to a stadium as a third space, the stadium becomes much more than only a building where you can look at sport games. The supporters has been though some experiences in that building. Because of these experiences the building becomes a where you met your friends or eat your lunch during a game. Some supporters goes further and call a stadium them second home.
Thirteenth example of thirdspace
For this example we take a look at the Kronenburgerpark in Nijmegen. As a first space, you could look at the trees, grass, water and paths that run through the park. This can all be empirically certified. In the park people can take a walk or just relax on the grass having a chat. This function the Kronenburgerpark has to people, serves as the second space. By these experiences a third space is founded, that is based on the experiences of people. Since Kronenburgerpark has become a meeting place for people if the weather is nice, but also for shady figures at night. The best example is probably a song written by dutch singer and songwriter Frank Boeijen. This song called "Kronenburgerpark" goes into the prostitution cases, that happend in the past. For a lot people this is the third space of the kronenburgerpark, as they remember this first when hearing the word "Kronenburgerpark". "Oh that park, that's what that song is about"
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
- Sixth example added by Robert Wursten, 23 october 2012
- Seventh example added by Anke Janssen, 24 october 2012
- Eight example added by Lieke Vogels, 24 october 2012
- Ninth example added by --StefanRamaker 11:49, 25 October 2012 (CEST)
- Tenth and eleventh example added by--HennyLi 17:36, 25 October 2012 (CEST)
- Twelveth example added by Pieter van Luijk 26 October 2012.
- Thirteenth example added by Jordi de Leeuw, 26 october 2012
Definition added by Jan-Peter Hoste october 26 2012
