Notes on place
Non-Places
On Marc Augé's concept of the 'non-place' — airports, malls and hotel rooms — and why a space only becomes a place once people inhabit it, leave their traces, and give it memory.
Much of modern life now takes place in spaces that do not belong to any specific location. Airports, shopping malls, highways, hotels, metro stations, waiting lounges, and chain stores are the most prominent examples of these. The French anthropologist Marc Augé defines such areas as "non-places." This term does not describe a space that is physically non-existent; rather, it refers to spaces that fail to establish a strong connection with people, memory, and identity.
We can better understand this distinction if we consider that a place consists of more than just walls, a floor, and a roof. People imbue the spaces they inhabit with memories, stories, habits, and meanings. A neighborhood coffeehouse, a street where one spent their childhood, the kitchen of a family home, or a workshop used for many years is not merely a physical environment. In these spaces, the past and the present are linked. Individuals can situate themselves there and form connections with other people, events, and their own pasts. Thus, the space transforms into a vessel for memory.
A "non-place," conversely, often represents the opposite of this relationship. A person at an airport is there not to live, but to travel elsewhere. A traveler on a highway moves through the environment without engaging with it. A hotel room is used for a few hours or days before being handed over to the next occupant. Shopping malls replicate similar stores, signage, lighting, and circulation patterns across cities worldwide. In these spaces, the individual becomes a transient user of a system rather than someone belonging to a specific place.
For this reason, the concept of the "non-place" is closely linked to the idea of a lack of memory. However, it is impossible to speak of a space that is truly devoid of memory. People generate experiences in every environment they inhabit, and these experiences can become part of their personal memory. A farewell at an airport can transform into an incredibly powerful memory years later. Consequently, what often lacks memory is not the individual's experience, but the narrative structure of the space itself. The space does not reveal its past to the user; it renders the traces of previous users invisible.
Viewed from this perspective, the "non-place" represents the constantly renewing face of the modern world. Signs, screens, wayfinding systems, security measures, and a standardized design language dictate what the user must do: "pass through here," "wait here," "scan your card," "proceed to the gate." Instead of forging a long-term relationship with the space, the individual moves according to instructions.
Perhaps the real issue today is not that spaces physically resemble one another. What matters more is that the relationship people form with spaces is becoming increasingly transient. A place acquires meaning only when it establishes a connection with the past, with people, and with experiences. When this bond begins to fray, spaces in different parts of the world become interchangeable. Thus, a person may be present in a place without truly belonging to it.
Where this leads
It's why Design Without Memories designs spaces open to change, use, and transformation — so a building can become a place, not a non-place, once the people who use it leave their traces on it.