Living Better: A little spatial kindness goes a long way
Practicing architect, researcher and multidisciplinary artist Itai Palti analyses the innate connection between people and place our recurring column, Living Better.
This article first appeared in Mix Interiors #233
Words: Itai Palti
A few years ago I was on my first grocery run in a new part of town. The closest store was closed so I crossed the street to the next one where the cashier, with a warm, kind smile saw me off with a cheery, “Welcome to the neighbourhood!”. In the four years I lived on that street, I always walked a little farther than needed for groceries. We all have a story of an act of kindness that affected our loyalty to something, and they’re most often based on deeds that went beyond the expected; gestures unrelated to the nature of an exchange.
This, of course, hasn’t escaped the attention of smart marketing strategists. A brand’s ultimate goal is to create meaningful emotional connections with customers. Some have been more successful than others, but a society well versed in the language of capitalism will inevitably look at acts of kindness from corporations with a healthy dose of distrust.
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