Experiential Manifesto (draft)

Nothing is more important to space than human beings themselves. Do you ever notice the power of people in space? People activate space. They give great impact to the experience and atmosphere of the space. They even have the power to change the space itself.  Space by itself would not exist without

the presence of human being. Is a nightclub a nightclub without people? Or is it just an empty space that doesn’t exist without people?

People have the gift to change space just by their slightest action like their facial expression. Imagine a static space with a person inside smiling. Somehow you would refer to that space in an optimistic way. What if there are ten people and they are all smiling? That even creates a more dramatic effect. The greater the amount of people, the more powerful the action. This implies to everything people do including their posture, gesture, body language, body movement, activities, and even more.

There are rules established to define the boundary between the relationship between a person and space. The first rule refers back to objects that presents human traces. These objects are designed to accommodate people, which emphasizes the importance of people in space. If people do not play major roles in activating a space, then why would all these designs of objects exist? Cigarette trays, umbrella stands, bus stop seats, and million more things are designed objects that traces back to human beings. Why would there be a cigarette tray in a certain space if it is not for people who smoke here? The second rule is known as the “activities rules”. If a certain amount of people does something together as a group and you are the only one who did not do it, you would feel uncomfortable and the only way to gain your comfort back is to either leave that place or blend in with the others. An example of this rule would be a situation where you are walking and the Thai national assembly song came up and everybody stood still to pay respect to the kingdom of Thailand. Even if you are a foreigner, you would feel forced to stand up and pay respect as well since all the others that surrounds you are doing the same thing. You wouldn’t want to be a black sheep that stands out from the flock.

The third rule is called the “invisible rules”, which are rules that people know mentally if they are allowed to do or not, but there is no exact rule that states this to the public. Such rule applies to situations like brushing your teeth at a perfume booth in the mall. Would you break this rule or most likely follow it? Depending on each individual, people usually obey the “invisible rules”.  What about rules that are visible to you, but do not physically have any restrictions on you? Such rule is called “visible but not physical rules”. “Visible but not physical rules” refers to signs, directional arrows, and presence of different textures or materials. You see a sign that says ‘no smoking’, but is there something or someone to physically stop you from smoking? No. Maybe you would obey the rules, but yet again maybe not.

There is one rule that most people would conform to and that is the “physical rules”. “Physical rules” applies to something that restricts you physically, which includes situations like having a wall in your way. Instead of taking a shortcut to the other side, you cannot break through the wall. The only option you have is to walk the other away around it. The majority of people would conform to this type of rules. However, there are certain scenarios where some people would break the boundary in these rules. The question is when do they decide to break that boundary? To what limit do people conform to being restricted in space?