“If a place can be defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity, then a space which cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity will be a non-place” (Augé 1995).

 

Nowadays, due to the development of modernization, global influence has swamped local color. For example, a large part of the train stations in the UK is occupied by chain stores, such as M&S, Burger King, and WH Smith. In other words, all the stations in different cities show the same pattern; they have been dyed in the same color.

 

Undeniably, most of us have experienced waiting at a station; however, do you have any memories about those periods? Corresponding with the definition of a non-place (Augé 1995), for travellers, the train station is a transient space, which is neither here nor there. Also according to the research by Mark van Hagen (2011:12). Waiting time represents the lowest time value, which is three times lower than the time of a train journey . Based on the two experts mentioned above, the time and the spaces devoted to waiting are always ignored by people who use them. Even the commuters, who frequently pass through, derive alienation from them.

 

During the master program at Edinburgh College of Art, I have concentrated on studying the non-place described by Marc Augé (1995). Opposite to “Non-place”, what is the place? ‘Place is where you recognize yourself, something familiar and safe, especially for you. When a large number of people have the same feeling and derive from it the sense of being linked together, it is a collective place’ (Hertzberger 2000:24). My intention is to practice interior architectural design on making non-place become a dynamic platform for events to occur; for the public to involve.