3.5 Place: A Physically Virtual

By nature, humans desire interactions. The built environment is assembled of a spatial hierarchy that influences our engagement. Our 'first place' is the home, the 'second place' is work, and the 'third place' is social gathering environments. With the rise of the internet, the online web has become our 'fourth place'. I desire to explore the relationship between the 'third' and 'fourth' place in the context of the retail landscape. The definition of the 'third place' - in this case, retail locations - is shifting from a place of solely purchasing goods and services to a place of experiencing a brand, everything from its identity, history, and values. Retailers have been emphasizing this experience through the creation of a playground-like program that guarantees consumers an out-of-the-world shopping experience by providing vibrant aesthetics perfectly configured for the Instagram square. The key word behind this shift is "experience", but there is still a gap of ambiguity that does not address the underlying psychological, cultural, and social needs of consumers of all ages that desire an escape outside of their regular routine. This thesis proposes a design program that will act as a '3.5 place' - the in-between space - that gives various retail brands the opportunity to immerse users in a physically-virtual world by accentuating the multi-sensory experience for intense encounters.