Tourism as a space to meet: from the architecture for tourism to the production of new spaces

Abstract

This writing is part of an ongoing PhD research. The study analyses tourism spatial effects and design solutions seeing as, since, as new aspects define an important shift in tourism and they highlight a meaningful trend, which is showed by need of integration between tourists and locals into the fabric of everyday life. This paper attempts to analyze the developing relationship between tourism and space, it examines the two principal ways in which tourism space is built – making a space for tourist or making a space with tourists. The issue, in the relationship between tourists and locals, exercises the paradigm of encounter to embrace a common terrain for experiencing new forms of space. Considering the results of recent tourism studies, the primary goal of the paper is to describe spaces where people can meet and validate new touristic forms of encounter, and introduce the role of design and architecture.