There is a reason why Google spent months figuring out the best way to pave the paths on their campus and why there’s only one set of doors leading to the main Zappos building.
It’s the same reason why the East African Maasai tribe builds huts that are only 1,5 meter high and so that it’s impossible to stand upright while you are inside.
The intention is to get people into the common spaces where they can randomly collide, leading to chance encounters that strengthen the community and help it thrive.
Google, Zappos, and the Maasai tribe know that we get few chances to shape our environment and then, it’s our environment that shapes us — every single day.
Sadly, the intentional design of our physical and virtual spaces is rare and largely overlooked.
“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us”
The first thing you’ll notice in a Maasai village in Kenya or Tanzania is that almost all activities take place outdoors…
