Jeffrey Kipnis asked in “In the Manor of Nietzsche” why architects felt excluded from the stage of history when they had the opportunity to design the stage itself.
I believe that the emphasis on the sentence above should be on the opportunity that lies within architecture to be able, through its built form, to formulate a programme to create a setting for unlimited experiences.

I have earlier identified in a book called eBusiness and Workplace Redesign that the creation of spaces has gone through three distinct phases, each changing the hierarchical process that forms the creation of these spaces. First there are Sequential Spaces, these spaces are deeply imbedded in their context, the construction and the activities that take place within this space are all dependent on the dominant factor of the context. An example of a Sequential Space are Igloo’s; the context provides the only source for construction namely snow and ice. The activities are very much limited by the sequential character of the context. Next, are Parallel Spaces, their main objective has been to free construction from the limitations of the context. In Parallel Spaces, construction becomes the main element in order to be able to build anything anywhere in exact the same way. Examples of Parallel Spaces are the glazed, boxed Central Business Centres one can find in any city in the world. The third space are Transitional Spaces where we see a shift towards the emphasis on the activities, as construction and context are become one. The characteristics of Transitional Spaces is that they are interior orientated, operate 24 hours (or whatever time they feel appropriate) and have secure access control. Think of Disneyland, casinos or shopping malls, the construction creates its own context and the emphasis is on the activities that are taking place inside.

Venturi and Scott Brown have written about the architectural implementations of transitional space in “Learning from Las Vegas.” Joseph Pine and James Gilmore focus on the activities when they write in “The experience economy” that –ing is the thing: within the Transitional Spaces “work is theatre and every business [is] stage”. The emphasis is on what is happening inside these spaces, the activities that are taking place within. The well-know marketing concept such as Third Place has been coined by Ray Oldenburg. A Third Place is a location between home and work (first and second places according to Oldenburg) where people can relax in good company. Austrian guru and trend scout Christian Mikunda has written a book of recipes for “New Experience Worlds” and identifies in “Brand Lands, Hot Spots and Cool Spaces” that experience design should aim for spaces that become landmarks, emphasizing the circulation through the space, providing a leitmotif, or a strong concept that holds the place together and finally the design should aim to contain a magnetic attraction for visitors.
Examples in the book are Selfridges in Birmingham by Future Systems and Volkswagen Autostadt.
This should, I am convinced, not be limited to shopping, but be part of the experience in the workplace as well.