Marshall McLuhan on Form and Space


We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape our space. The automobile didn’t merely change transportation—it redrew the map. It stretched the suburbs and collapsed the downtowns. The television didn’t just entertain us; it redefined the living room, turning furniture toward glowing altars. Every medium is an architect of perception.

Form, you see, is not passive. A book encourages linearity; a screen promotes simultaneity. A road creates a corridor of intention; a screen opens a window of distraction.

The geography of experience is dictated not by the content, but by the container. That’s the message. And the medium? The real city we live in now is not brick and mortar. It is bandwidth and signal strength.

Comments

  1. David Tyler Rand-McKayJune 20, 2025 at 11:55 AM

    The car gave us suburbs. The TV gave us the family room. The phone gave us nowhere to be. Every medium doesn't just transmit content—it reshapes the world around it. Your space is what your screen allows. The medium is the message.

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