Meeting, Spaces & Shape | Susan George | TEDxYouth@ISF
The speaker argues that the meaning of space—whether physical, institutional, or conversational—is dictated by underlying cultural norms, citing the Japanese temple's circular window to evoke horizontal ease versus the Vatican's rectangular arrangement suggesting hierarchy. Using bookshop interactions between Italians and English speakers, the speaker illustrates that Italian conversational space involves overlapping and direct assertion, whereas English space maintains clearer boundaries with an emphasis on non-confrontational inquiry.
## Theses & Positions
- The meaning of space is determined by underlying cultural principles, extending to physical environments, institutions, and conversations.
- Physical architecture communicates social meaning: Japanese temples evoke horizontal peace via circular windows, while cathedrals suggest hierarchy via rectangular forms.
- Legal systems reflect cultural structure: Italian law is based on unilateral, top-down public power, while the Anglo-Saxon system is pluralistic, aiming for equity between interests.
- Conversational space differs culturally: Italian interaction often involves overlap and insistence, while English interaction maintains distinct boundaries and utilizes indirect questioning to avoid embarrassing others.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Physical space:** Includes built environments like Japanese temples and Venetian cathedrals, which communicate feelings of peace or hierarchy.
- **Institutional space:** Refers to legal systems; Italian law is characterized by *unilateral power/public power* (top-down), while Anglo-Saxon law is based on *plural institutions* guaranteeing mediation.
- **Conversational space:** The spatial dynamics of interaction, demonstrated by buying books in bookshops, varying whether interaction overlaps or maintains clear individual spaces.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Architectural influence:** Circular windows (Japanese temple) facilitate looking outward at nature, promoting a feeling of horizontal peace, whereas rectangular spaces (Venetian cathedral) suggest worship and hierarchy toward a central master.
- **Legal process contrast:** Italian public administration emphasizes impartiality, while the Anglo-Saxon system involves plural actors believing that collaborative discussion leads to better decisions.
- **Conversational protocol:** Italian customer behavior often involves the customer *insisting* to obtain information, while the English customer begins by asking, *"do you have..."* to soften the inquiry and avoid embarrassing the shop assistant.
## Examples & Cases
- **Architecture comparison:** Japanese temple with a circular window showing nature (horizontal peace) vs. Venetian cathedral with a rectangle and dome (hierarchy toward a master).
- **Public Squares:** Vatican (suggesting hierarchy) vs. Siena (where the Palio takes place, suggesting a space for the people).
- **Gardens:** Boboli garden (artistic admiration in Florence) vs. Hyde Park (a space people use for recreation like playing football).
- **Bookshop interaction (Italy):** Customer states what is needed ("I'm looking for *War and Peace*"), and the assistant guides them or reports back.
- **Bookshop interaction (English/London):** Customer first looks for the book alone, and when speaking to the assistant, begins with the shop assistant's perspective ("Do you have *War and Peace*...").
- **Workshop consequence:** In Italy, a round table meeting usually uses a rectangular table because every person presents their position without directly addressing neighbors.
## Names & Entities
- **Japanese temple**
- **Venetian cathedral**
- **Boboli garden**
- **Hyde Park**
- **Vatican**
- **Siena**
- **Italy** (culture/system)
- **English/Anglo-Saxon** (culture/system)
- **Bologna** (location for interaction data)
- **London** (location for interaction data)
## Numbers & Data
- Database of **400 interactions** in Bologna.
- The speaker suggests a personal game: using the symbols circle, square, triangle, and using them **12 times** in total to draw a person.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- No specific tools, technology, or products are named, apart from the abstract "geometrical figures" used as illustrative concepts.
## References Cited
- A database of **400 interactions** in Bologna.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Table shape consequence:** Round tables encourage exploration of new solutions, contrasting with rectangular tables where each person keeps their position distinct.
- **Communication style:** Direct insistence (Italian) vs. indirect questioning (English).
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker notes the difference between *rights and duties* (English concept) and the Italian concept of *diritti e doveri*, which feels strange to the speaker because they are more used to rights and responsibilities rather than the state imposing itself.
- The speaker mentions that Italians tend to *take space* more, noting this observation came after transcribing Neapolitan data.
## Methodology
- Observation of physical architecture (temple vs. cathedral).
- Analysis of institutional frameworks (Italian vs. Anglo-Saxon law).
- Qualitative comparison of conversational patterns derived from a dataset of book purchases in Bologna and London.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- To conclude, the speaker suggests a personal exercise: drawing a person using the symbols circle, square, and triangle, ensuring all symbols are used exactly **12 times** in total, and submitting this drawing for interpretation.
- The final, unstated recommendation is to be aware of how one "perceive space" and "manage space" based on culture.
## Implications & Consequences
- Differences in space management affect how individuals relate to the state (e.g., viewing the state as part of oneself vs. something imposed).
- The physical structure of communication (table shape, conversation flow) reflects deeper underlying agreements about the relationship between the self and the collective.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"It's not this sort of space it's physical space institutional space and conversational space."*
- *"the circular window helps you to look out at nature and there's a feeling of horizontal peace"*
- *"the faithful are going to worship and look at their master that's at the table at the end of the of the room"*
- *"the anglo-saxon one... is based on plural institutions and there are different premises behind the way that things are conducted"*
- *"the English London British English organization of the interaction is quite different... he doesn't say I'm looking for but he says do you have"*
- *"all circle the Italian enters the space of the other in fact often the Italian overlaps in the conversation whereas the english one is a two separate there are two separate spaces"*
- *"I'd like you if you want to play a game you can do it at home you use any of these symbols the circle square triangle and use them 12 times in also it can be 10 circles two triangles or six triangles three circles and three squares"*