Somewhere in-between the privacy of home and the formality of the office lies the relaxation of the third place.

‍A term coined by American sociologist Ray Oldenburg in 1989 – if home is a primary place and the office is a secondary place, then the third place is where to escape the former two. Oldenburg claims that third places – vital to building strong communities and foster broader, more creative interaction – are social levelers where a diversity of people may gather to converse, relax, and enjoy the company of strangers and acquaintances alike.

While third places are becoming more important than ever, they are quickly disappearing. And while traditional examples of third places include public parks and community centers, most places that somewhat fit into the category – like coffee shops, bars, and activity centers – have started requiring a paid point of entry, inevitably making them inaccessible for some. 

The idea of third places is comfortable and re-assuring. We need spaces where people can meet as people, rather than as segmented identities. However, they are harder to come by than they should be.

If you were at Crossing Borders: The Future of the Cultural and Creative Industries on May 19th, the idea of third places may sound familiar to you. Indeed, let’s bring Aaron Greiner and his non-profit organization, CultureHouse, into the picture. 

Watch Aaron Greiner's presentation at Crossing Borders: The Future of the Cultural and Creative Industries below. Followed by a discussion on creating a CultureHouse in xPlot's hometown of Lund, Sweden, together with Aaron Greiner and Anneli Xie.

On the 19th of May, we had the pleasure of hosting Aaron Greiner – Founder and Director of CultureHouse – as a speaker and have him explain the CultureHouse concept in detail.

CultureHouse focuses on improving the livability in local communities by transforming unused spaces into dynamic pop-up community spaces. As CultureHouse locations add vibrant social infrastructure to previously vacant spaces, they in many ways fill a gap in their surroundings, becoming third place through and through. 

Through extensive research and thorough data collection, as part of CultureHouse’s five-step process – research, community development, design/build, operation, and impact report – Greiner has garnered ample expertise on the subject of designing, creating, and hosting third places. 

‍

‍
For example, Greiner explained that things such as empty store-fronts and monotonous facades on city blocks have been found to negatively impact peoples’ moods, increasing social stress which make inevitably draw people away from the vacant spaces. What CultureHouse does, on the other hand, is to activate these vacancies by turning them into places for interaction, play, and by adding a visual complexity to their exterior that decreases the negative emotions and stress that are otherwise triggered by commercial vacancies.

As a result, CultureHouse’s pop-up spaces are like living rooms for the community. By utilizing low-lift but high-impact measures – such as installing playful elements like swings, ping-pong tables, and adding desks to work, and chairs and couches to hang out in – CultureHouse has brought vibrancy, warmth, and a third place to over 20 locations in and around the city of Boston, MA.
‍

Through thorough data collection and by analyzing qualitative and quantitative data – as part of their five-step process of research, community engagement, design/build, operation, and impact report – the work of CultureHouse has been found to increase livability and joy, increase local economic activity, as well as become focal points for community development. For example, Greiner tells us that their CultureHouse pop-up in Kendall generated an 8x increase in the number of people that stayed on the street, increasing their chances to stay in the area. 

But although CultureHouse is Boston-based, it is not exclusive to the area. The idea of CultureHouse originally stems from Copenhagen, and the lack of third places is something we see and experience everywhere.

Toward the end of our annual event, we discussed the idea of creating a CultureHouse in Lund, exploring the current limitations of the city, its vacant storefronts, and how a vibrant pop-up space like CultureHouse could create the lingering effect that is currently lacking. To read more about the possibilities for Lund's urban spaces, read the interview with Anneli Xie by Future by Lund here.

Curious to hear more about CultureHouse?
Read our first interview with Aaron Greiner here, and visit their website: culturehouse.cc.

-----------

Cover photo: CultureHouse in Bow Market, 2018. 
Photo Credit: Jacob Ballin/CultureHouse.