Traveling, Inhabiting, Experiencing - A Phenomenology for Public Transit

Magazine article, 2014

The Nils Ericson Terminal by architect Niels Torp in Gothenburg, Sweden provides a framework for discussion on how to design for public transit. The paradox of public transport is its aim to move human beings with efficiency—to balance the urgent need for sustainable transport infrastructures with an appreciation of what it means to be human in such an environment. Phenomenology offers a theoretical base for architectural design practice that considers human movement and sensory experiences (Hopsch & Cesario 2011) as well as ethical dimensions (McCann 2011), addressing issues of security, orientation, climate, and beauty in an environment with risks for alienation. The article outlines the ethical and spatial paradoxes of efficient public transport. It proposes to think of and re-think methods and tools for early urban planning processes that further the encounter between humans and the built environment with a deeper knowledge of spatial urban form in an embodied context.