Build Worlds, Not Spaces
Where Imagination, Emotion, and Energy Converge
This edition of Now New Next was inspired by a recent post from a Grant Dudson post in LinkedIn. Grant is an Experiential Artist based in London. His posts bring a sense of imagination and reframing of space.
Some people build spaces—rooms, platforms, products, experiences. But the ones who truly move us? They build worlds.
A space contains. A world expands.
Walls, borders, and functions define spaces. Worlds are shaped by imagination, emotion, and energy. They invite others to enter, explore, and belong.
In a world overwhelmed by surface-level engagement, we crave depth. We want to be transported—and ultimately transcend what we thought was possible.
Here is a question for you: Are you building a space… or are you building a world?
NOW: The Limits of Space
We’ve spent years designing spaces—workspaces, digital spaces, and branded spaces. They’ve served their purpose. They’ve housed people, processes, and ideas.
But spaces without substance become transactional. They give us a place to sit, but not a place to feel.
Look around:
Workspaces that inspire no collaboration.
Platforms that feel more like megaphones than communities.
Digital products that solve problems but spark no joy.
These are spaces. They are efficient and optimized, but lacking soul.
Ask yourself:
~ Is what you’re building making people feel something, or just filling a need?
~ Are you creating places of presence or just more noise?
The Now demands a shift: from utility to meaning.
NEW: Shaping Worlds of Experience
To build a world is to invite people into something immersive, something that transports them from where they are to where they could be.
When you build a world, you’re shaping more than functionality. You’re designing a story people want to live inside.
Worlds evoke. They move. They stay with you.
Here’s how to start building one:
Imagination as Blueprint
Ask not just what’s useful, but what’s possible. What if? What’s missing from the current landscape that only your vision could introduce?
Emotion as Architecture
Design for feeling, not just function. What emotions do you want someone to feel when they enter your world? Awe? Safety? Excitement? Belonging?
Energy as Atmosphere
Worlds hum with a frequency. People can feel when something is alive, when it has momentum. Are you cultivating an energy that invites participation and sparks contribution?
Ask yourself:
~ What would it look like to build something that people want to return to again and again, not because they have to, but because they feel something there?
In the New, design becomes emotional. Strategy becomes sensory. Creation becomes experiential.
NEXT: A Future of Worlds Worth Living In
The future will be defined by those who transcend spaces and build new realities, worlds people want to move through, grow within, and contribute to.
Worlds where:
Communities feel co-created, not just attended.
Products feel like extensions of values, not just tools.
Brands feel like belief systems, not just campaigns.
When we stop designing for consumption and start designing for connection, we transcend.
This is what the best creators, leaders, and builders understand: you’re not just offering a product, service, or message. You’re offering a portal.
Ask yourself:
~ What world are you inviting people into?
~ Is it worth the journey? Does it call them back again and again?
Payoff: Worlds Are the New Strategy
In the Now, recognize when you’re simply building space.
In the New, begin layering imagination, emotion, and energy into what you build.
In the Next, craft a world that becomes a movement—something people want to live inside, contribute to, and carry forward.
Here’s your opportunity:
Stop filling space. Start creating worlds.
Because the future won’t be shaped by those who build the most.
It will be shaped by those who build what moves us—
those who transport us, and help us transcend.
"The city is not a collection of buildings or streets but a multitude of overlapping worlds." - Rem Koolhaas
Hello, I am Tobin.
I see the world through a mosaic lens, fashioned by an infusion of AI. The sum of the parts is derived from remixing the individual pieces (digital tesserae) into a cogent visual story.
My superpower is finding the soul of your organization and then designing for alignment. This is achieved by building a belief system that leads to a differentiated narrative and a new path forward.
Follow me on LinkedIn. Or DM at tobin@spatialshift.com for more information.
- Click the 🔔 in my profile to get notified of my posts…
If you want to learn how to build alignment between you and your narrative, book a free consultation with me, and let's consider the possibilities.
My client roster includes Global 1000, Senior Executives, and Movements.
Tobin, as always, your words invite a kind of pause—the good kind—the kind that nudges us to look deeper at what we’re really shaping with our energy.
“A space contains. A world expands.”
That line stirred something in me. It feels especially relevant for those of us navigating generational change and wondering how to move beyond well-structured lives into something more alive, more immersive.
Thank you for continuing to build worlds with your words. They invite us in, and that, to me, is the most generous kind of leadership.