Patrick Gordon-Lane's Diagram of Space and Place

The tension between Space and Place has created a “universal dialectic” in the American cultural experience. In other words, the defining of Space and Place actually depend on one another. Furthermore, Space and Place also have tendencies to attract and repel American culture. Thus, to better define this tension, Lane has created a diagram. Place (chora) is portrayed on a horizontal line while Space (Topos) is on the vertical axis. To the far left, Place is portrayed as a place of comfort; such as a small town, one where “you can never go on a walk, because everyone will keep offering you rides”. While the far right is portrayed as a Place of constriction; the same small town, except the “small mindedness” of the community is seen as smothering. At the height of the vertical axis, one can see Space as a sense of freedom; “the celebration of limitless possibilities of an expanding frontier”. But on the opposite side, one can see Space as a threat; the fear of being lost in space, such as the “agoraphobic settlers” that transversed the Great Plains during the nineteenth century. These lines intersect in the same way that the mind of the populous does. Even Thoreau has been subject to this model. It was his home that propelled him to climb Mt. Katadhin, but once on the mountain he became speechless and terrified. So, it is the confining small town that propels American culture to the freedom of the west. While in the same respect, the fear of being lost in the prairies makes America gain the sense of comfort from the small town. As depicted, Space inherently needs Place because they adversely affect the American psyche, and vise versa.