Graphic Design and the Non-Place: From Airports to Interfaces
Non-Place. AI image Introduction When Marc Augé introduced the concept of the non-place in the early 1990s, he described a new type of space produced by contemporary modernity: airports, highways, supermarkets, hotel chains. These were environments designed for circulation rather than dwelling, for movement rather than memory. They did not cultivate identity or shared narratives; they coordinated flows. What is often overlooked is how such spaces function at all. Non-places are not empty. They are saturated with instructions, symbols, labels, arrows, logos, pictograms, warnings, and interfaces. They are readable environments. Without this dense layer of visual coding, they would dissolve into confusion. That layer is graphic design. The non-place is therefore not only a spatial phenomenon but also a semiotic one. Graphic design is what allows these spaces to operate. The Non-Place as a Semiotic Environment Augé defines the anthropological place as a space that produces ...