Commuting Routes as the Spine of the City: Movement Without Connection

How do I define public space?

A public space is a communal space, but in urban settings such as Amsterdam, it is often not a community space anymore. We encounter and observe each other every day through the senses. However, meaningful connections in urbanized landscapes become difficult to create. And nowhere is this isolation as visible as in commuting spaces, despite physically linking different parts of the city, the uninviting architecture and limited functionality reinforce social alienation.

I wanted to relate the assignment to my practice Somatic Imagination and interests of the spine, sensing, and imagination. Therefore, I reimagined the people in the city as neurons, traveling around inside the body of the city, using the nervous system, meaning the roads, buses, bike paths, tram, and metro to move throughout the city between destinations. The following sources have helped me develop this choice.

In The Eyes of the Skin, Juhani Pallasmaa states that we experience architecture through the body, not just visually. Many modern spaces often neglect this full sensory experience, including commuting routes, prioritizing efficiency and clean design over the emotional and social engagement of their users. This creates spaces that mirror the priorities of a capitalistic society, focusing on efficiency and individualism and not promoting engagement with either the surroundings or one another.

1. Architecture addresses questions of human existence in space and time. In the past, modes of transportation were designed for comfort and gave space for relaxation and conversation. Nowadays, the architecture of commuting routes and public transportation fails to engage with the physical and emotional experience of space. They are often treated purely as mechanisms for movement and as a user, you are deprived of opportunities for meaningful connections with others. Due to an individualistic approach, we don’t feel an embodied connection to space anymore (Pallasmaa, 1996, p. 17)

2. Pallasmaa critiques modern architecture as being created for the eye. It makes for spaces that are detached from the body, such as the idealized, aerial perspective of commuting routes that form a structure that facilitates movement with direct, clean lines and open concrete spaces. As a commuter motorized movement takes over and disconnects our minds and bodies from the environment. It distances us from the human experience, where we move through it rather than being present. Additionally, we only focus on the optic structure of the “spine” of the city while inside the vehicles, making us disconnected from the body’s full, sensory experience of space, leading to a sense of disconnection despite the constant movement within it. (Pallasmaa, 1996, p. 29)

3. Since the dynasties of ancient Egypt, human scale and natural materials have been central to design. This anthropocentric tradition in architecture has been almost forgotten in modern times. We tend to interpret a building or environment as an analogue to our body, and vice versa. Natural materials express their origin and histories of human use, connecting us to time. In contrast, the machine-made materials of the technological age – sheets of glass, enameled metals, and synthetic plastics – usually deliberately aim at ageless perfection. They do not incorporate the dimension of time or the unavoidable and mentally significant aging processes. The lack of natural materials, combined with the shift away from human-centered design, such as the creation of massive structures, may further explain the disconnection people feel. (Pallasmaa, 1996, p. 36-38, 71-72)

4. Space can be sensed and experienced not only visually but also through its acoustics. The soundscape of the rush of the city – dominated by the sounds of vehicles in constant motion and the bustle of people – creates overstimulation, stress, and anxiety. This contributes to feelings of detachment and adds to the fatigue of commuting. To protect ourselves, the auditory environment becomes background noise, reinforcing a sense of alienation rather than connection. (Pallasmaa, 1996, p. 50)

In this research, I would like to reflect on the contemporary public space that is dominated by the rush of capitalism. Specifically, the urban design in transportation and commuting routes, where the infrastructure is often marked by functionality and uninviting spaces that fail to nurture a sense of belonging and connection. This environment lacks the soft, curvy spaces that invite relaxation and interaction, leaving behind a disconnected experience despite the continuous flow of people. The commute has become a hurried isolation, where the sensorial overload makes us fatigued and dissociated from our surroundings. The intention of a journey used to be about connection—not just between points A and B, but with the places on that journey and the people within it. Through choreography, I would search to bring the elements of taking time and connection into commuting routes, inviting wandering and interaction back into the space.

2. The location

Besides planning, architecture, and economics, the disciplines of landscape architecture, psychology, sociology, and the arts should play equally important roles in influencing the field of design. Designers need to consider the human condition, recognizing their ability to improve the mental and emotional impact of physical spaces on individuals. Although the nature of modern cities continues to evolve, public spaces must still offer opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds— whether young, elderly, retired, or unemployed—to engage in diverse human interactions. Public spaces must bridge these connections; enabling movement, and communication, and providing a common ground for enjoyment and relaxation. (Cybriwsky, 1999)

Unfortunately, contemporary design often focuses on the execution of necessary activities—such as going to work, shopping, waiting for a bus, and running errands. These essential tasks, occurring year-round, under most conditions, and largely unaffected by the physical environment, are typically prioritized. However, this emphasis overlooks the design needs for optional and social activities. Optional activities, like taking a walk to get fresh air, standing around enjoying life, or sitting and sunbathing, should be possible and desirable during the time we are busy with compulsory activities. And social activities can be indirectly encouraged when public spaces are designed to better support optional activities.

Despite the rise of social media and technology, in-person casual contact remains substantial for psychological well-being. People’s social behavior is influenced by the design of their environment, therefore city infrastructure needs to facilitate these encounters, which were once a common part of daily life. (Gehl, 2010)

Urban design has to move away from sleek, impersonal aesthetics that favor appearance and commercial interests, and return to accommodating people’s needs. It is essential that, while pursuing their goals and reaching their destinations, people pass through a humanistic environment. (Stevens, 2006) Therefore, a successful urban space can be both functional and empowering, allowing users to attach meaning to the space through adaptation and participation.

My initial thought was to hold the public spaces intervention near the metro station, aiming to break the impersonal nature of the infrastructure. However, the article on defensive architecture highlighted that these spaces are very controlled, and such spontaneous actions are not permitted by the infrastructure owners unless they hold a commercial value. When I requested permission, I was informed that the risks of public disturbance were too high to allow such an action without payment and planned surveillance on their part. Therefore, I began searching for a location in Amsterdam that would provide a contrast to the subject of my research.

The authors of Human Social Behavior in Public Urban Spaces: Towards Higher Quality Cities explain that in some countries, the focus of commuting infrastructure has shifted toward a more humanistic approach. These nations recognize that life is defined by flows, networks, and interactions and they facilitate outdoor transportation methods that lead to unsuspected situations. They ensure that residents are invited to walk and bike as much as possible in connection with their daily activities (Smith, Nelischer, and Perkins, 1997). This creates a lively city with more people on the streets to connect with and an opportunity for residents to engage with the events unfolding in the city.

There is a contrast in the Netherlands that I find intriguing. The privatized public transport network creates vast, impersonal spaces that lack comfort and prioritize commerce. In contrast, the country’s exceptional bike and pedestrian network offers opportunities to explore and connect with both urban and natural environments. For this reason, my public intervention will take place at a crossing in Vondelpark, where several bike paths converge, making it a bustling passage during commuting hours. 

The intent is to draw inspiration from public transport design to reflect the dancers’ movements, while connecting them to this bike crossroads, which is more representative of a humanized transportation design in the city.

Working with the spine

Juhani Pallasmaa’s book The Eyes of the Skin provided me with the opportunity to incorporate my creative approach, Somatic Imagination, into the assignment. This approach is rooted in the dynamic dialogue between body and mind,  and aims to provide social commentary through an imaginative rethinking of reality.

In the book, she discusses an embodied relationship with architecture, underlining how the design of space influences connections. As a commuter, you can sense the dynamics of the environment through the movement of others traveling in various directions around you. However, there is little connection between people—they simply pass by one another without acknowledgment.

The research focuses on exploring the possibilities of connection between the dancers' spines and their interaction with the space. I chose the spine specifically because its movement can completely alter the structure and meaning of the body. This is evident in public transportation, where passengers’ postures—facing away, making themselves smaller or taller—subtly reflect their relationships with others. Cultivating awareness of the spine offers a starting point for reestablishing connection in a public space. Additionally, I link the collective movement of the dancers’ spines to the architecture of the commuting routes, disrupting the linear use of the space.