Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: The End of Curation

by Sally Augustin, Ph.D. | July 6th, 2020

On March 3, 2020, in The New York Times (“Everyone’s a Curator Now”), Lou Stoppard was very clear – the term “curate,” in all of its various verb forms, is now problematic: “as zeitgeisty as other oddly specific and much hashtagged words like ‘wanderlust’ or ‘journey’ or ‘empower,’ curate is spreading. The word’s overuse has left it almost devoid of meaning.” The fact that the word “curate” is “almost devoid of meaning” is bad news for me because for years I’ve been using it regularly. I guess now I’ll need to use the word “edit” or “plan” in its place. How have I been using the word “curate”? First, to indicate that the set of environmental control options presented to space users needs to be carefully planned (I used to say “curated”) to align with the probable use of a space. Comfortable levels of environmental control boost mood and professional …