Afternoon of Life

Liminal space is often spoke of in architecture as a place you pass through to get to another place. Examples include foyers, hallways, staircases, mezzanines, but also bridges, ramps, and alleys. Airports, hotels, train stations, are liminal in themselves space but always have many smaller liminal spaces within them, such as elevators, lobbies, or cordoned waiting lines. Liminal space has also been talked about in terms of psychological space. Transition periods in peoples lives such as the time between graduation and starting college or basic training. Job changes, divorce, death are additional examples.

A Facebook photography page called Liminal Photography has wonderful photographic examples of liminal space. The trend, however, in the photographs, is to capture the dark side of liminality. An abandoned store, a spooky subway station platform , an empty house with a forgotten stuffed animal in the corner. The photos are evocative of feelings of loss, abandonment, unease, or trepidation, but liminality need not be negative. A gorgeous multistory entryway, a majestic corridor, a flowery tunnel opening up into an open garden. Psychologically, the experience may be neutral, thrilling, creative, associated with a period of growth or transformational.

I wonder if we could consider our own lives as liminal, moving through the years on our way to heaven, hell or the next incarnation.