I just don’t understand the concept or the meaning of liminal spaces. Like what does a place of transition mean?
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Consider a place that you would move through, but not spend any time loitering in. A hallway, a station concourse, a staircase, the gap between two pairs of doors. These are liminal spaces. In contrast your living room, a train carriage, an office are all spaces that you dwell in.
“place of transition” just describes their use. They’re not the destination, but the rooms and structures we pass through on the way to a destination. You wouldn’t hang out in a parking garage, you only ever witness it in transit to somewhere else.
More recently they’ve been defined by their association with horror games and the fact that when not in use they feel odd. These spaces are intentionally designed to have people on the move in them. They were meant to be occupied. They are designed in a way to ensure smooth traffic flow as people go about their business. So when these places are empty and seen without people they can seem too big, too open, and a general sense of unease can appear as your brain tells you there should be people here.
A liminal space is a place between destinations. Essentially, a place you pass through moving from one space to another that is not itself a destination.
A hallway is a good example of a liminal space. Lots of people pass through it but generally people don’t camp out in a hall for hours just to spend time there. It’s a space between spaces you want to be. You don’t usually consciously decide to go to a hallway the way you’d decide to go to your bedroom or kitchen.
Airports are another good example. Employees aside, people at an airport are always going somewhere. The airport is never the destination, it’s just a space you pass through to get to where you’re meant to be. You don’t wake up and think “I’m going to the airport today” just to BE at the airport. There’s always some greater destination (catching a flight to it).
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