This past weekend marked the 239th year of America, it was my 38th birthday. Usually around ones birthday, passing of time becomes more tangible, almost felt as another dimension or being.
Time is a tricky element, though quantifiable by objective measures like seconds, minutes, days, it can also become very subjective when you feel that time flies when you are having fun, or that last minute of running that seems move so very slow.
If you ever walked into a a retail store you would notice that there are no clocks to be seen, so as not to rush you. This unlike train stations where they can be seen all around. Classrooms have clocks on the walls, maybe they should be taken away so kids don't feel like time in school drags on for-EVER. My personal favorite is the one on airplane screens making me appreciate every second of turbulence.
In design the role of time becomes like another element, from the "look and feel" of contemporary pieces or antiques, to the sense of timing in the space. How long it takes you to get from point A to B in a space can be crucial when many users need to use it. Emergency rooms are a great example of how lack of thought about the timing of receiving the patient can be the difference between life or death. Carefully monitoring the time cars are stuck in a traffic jam can make all the difference of air quality during certain times of the day.
But there are also places where the design calls on you to pause and enjoy, thus creating a moment in time. It could be art work placed at a certain position, a change in flooring that will make you slow down and create a different rhythm to your stride. The ones I like the most are of carefully placed seats, allowing for a full stop in time to enjoy what is around you.