Where is this place? (2002)
article⁄Where is this place? (2002)
abstract⁄Place’ is arguably an essential component of most successful virtual environments, yet the concept ofwhat is ‘place’, and what sort of ‘placeness’ is required for digital environments, are seldom discussed.A reflexive argument such as here is a place because it was designed to be a place does not stimulatedesign guidelines for virtual places, and it certainly does not help us create and evaluate virtual placessuitable for audiences who vary in intention or in available technology. To articulate useful distinctionsbetween virtual places, this paper extends design guidelines proposed by Kalay and Marx, reshapesthem with the help of Relph’s definitions, into spatial visualisation and activitybased environments, andadds a further category, the hermeneutic. The paper also proposes a graduated matrix for selection ofplacemaking elements and for selecting a mode of representation appropriate to the design objective ofthe virtual environment, be it spatial, activitybased, or hermeneutic.
