Future of P-Leisure 2024
What is Hyper-Placeshaping?
Amorphous Cities! Introvert Totality! Sub-Lux Space! We explore the future of P-Leisure for 2025 and beyond.
For our third instalment of the Future of P-Leisure, Bompas & Parr explored the liminal spaces and blurred boundaries between public and private leisure, seeking to uncover potential avenues of interest that could define the future of placemaking.
Presented at Samsung Kings Cross on 17th June 2024, the Future of P-Leisure 2024 live event included the creation of food and drink samples from the Bompas & Parr development kitchen, and sponsored cocktails from Johnnie Walker and Double Dutch. We gave our audience edible ‘moonrocks’ created with real lunar dust, citrus ‘glass’ that was shattered with a ceremonial mallet, and Icelandic ‘Thunder Bread’, steamed for 24 hours to replicate the geothermal cooking process.
Following a number of pivotal drivers that might impact the way we view and interact with public space, the Bompas & Parr studio have identified theories and predictions that will shape how we rethink the future of placemaking.
Aiming to question our notion of ‘place’ and societal expectations on how (and when) we spend our time in the public sphere, this report opens up possibilities in what the future might be for our local communities and beyond.
Our trends for the future of P-Leisure include:
1. Dusking
As we become increasingly busy and less socially buoyant, we predict that the time we have to spend on relaxation, reconnection and adventure will start to shift toward a more moonlit hour. We predict that we’ll start to see more traditional daylight activities switch to after dark, especially during the warmer months, with nighttime bird watching and after dark sports becoming popular new activities to experience the magic of nighttime leisure.
What will this mean for the way we shape our public spaces?
2. Pointless Places
As event spaces continue to make ends meet, we predict a shift toward “pointless” places, those that are shelled out and ready for reuse without starting life with a set purpose. This will come about from a rise in what we’re calling ‘the anti-purpose’ movement; a collective revolt against places that are defined in concrete terms as being made for a certain use.
3. Amorphous Cities
We expect to see a shift not only in how places are defined, but how they are created, with revolution meets reuse leading the way in public art and architecture. This trend explores the myriad possibilities for re-creation in design and creative expression, seeking to question what the future holds for the very material with which our environments are made from.
4. The Great Re-Bond
By creating spaces that bring people together around shared interests and values, such as meals and festivals, we unlock the power of collective action. We believe these moments of euphoric bonding lead to lasting change, fostering greater happiness, personal development, and tools to combat loneliness. With this in mind, we predict a shift to more community-focused public arenas that seek to reconnect us and help alleviate ‘awe-depression’.
5. The Rise of the Introvert
The Introvert Era is as much about celebrating the value of different forms of thinking in a loud world as it is providing space for introverts to thrive, with the spotlight firmly on public space and how more overtly introverted spaces will be created to shift thinking and balance.
6. Sub-Lux
Driven by the Uber-Rich, this trend is all about the exploration of subterranean luxury, looking at the future of underground security, design, and possibilities surrounding wellness that might impact public space. Through this trend forecast, we explore the intersection between survival and style.
Download a full copy of the report here.
