WHAT IS A THIRD SPACE?

The concept of a Third Space (or Third Place) comes from Sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who deemed that our homes were our first place, work our second place, and the third place is a social space separate from the other two. Third Spaces have taken many forms - churches, parks, libraries, coffee shops, bars, gyms. A Third Space is a place of belonging, of connection. It is ideally a place that offers more than just a transaction, and something other than your home and your work can provide.

Over my life, all of the above examples have been third spaces for me. But the most promising, the one where I have perhaps learned and enjoyed myself the most is the theatre, the music hall, the performance space. Are all theatres Third Spaces? No, they aren’t, but the best ones are, or have potential to be.

People gather to watch the sunset over the Hudson River at the Amph on Little Island

3rd Space Workshop is an aspiration - to be involved in the creation of spaces that truly give to their community. Where does that creation start? I do some of my best thinking in nature. People create in the studio, sure, but drawing something is only halfway there. In the workshop is where the community starts to build, over a set of plans or a work table, where specialists come together to collaborate and create something new. The workshop cultivates the strength of a community of people, of disparate materials joining for a purpose. It is where the rubber hits the road and we really get moving.