Space, Place and History suggests how we might attach layers of meaning (personal, cultural, scientific, religious etc.) to specific locations. ‘Space’ is more abstract than ‘place’, because what begins as undifferentiated space becomes ‘a place’ as we become more familiar with its content and apportion value. As Yi-Fu Tuan states in Space and Place, The Perspective of Experience (1977), “If we think of space as that which allows movement, then place is pause; each pause in movement makes it possible for location to be transformed into place” (Tuan, 1977, p.140). These ‘pauses’ in movement allow for direct experience, allowing a person to know a place physically as well as conceptually. We might argue that a space becomes a place once it acquires a history of use.
During the remainder of this module you are asked to critically and creatively engage with notions of space place and history through a location of your choice. Your location may be: a landscape, a country, a town, a building, a room - something / somewhere entirely imagined, or very immediate to you in your daily life. Any of these may have associations with you or others who are close to you. It may also be an alienating, unknowable space that communicates a sense of adventure or trepidation. There may be particular incidents, events or histories that resonate through the location.