Margaret Kerrison’s career spans sixteen years of creating narratives and writing for television, film, digital media, games, brand storytelling, location-based entertainment, narrative placemaking, and immersive experiences.
She is an award-winning story lead, consultant, and writer for multiple global projects, including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Avengers Campus and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, as well as National Geographic Base Camp and the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. She was a Disney Imagineer from 2014 to 2021 and also the 2023 Paul Helmle Fellow at Cal Poly Pomona’s School of Architecture. Her first book, Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds: A Writer’s Guide, was released in August 2022.
In her latest book, Reimagined Worlds: Narrative Placemaking for People, Play, and Purpose (available here), Kerrison speaks to the designers and creators of all types of public space, suggesting an approach to placemaking driven by purposive, intentional stories – and informed by the interplay between people, play, and purpose.
Margaret Kerrison on immersive storytelling
Margaret Kerrison fuses storytelling with experiential and architectural design, signposting a scaleable method that encompasses authenticity and also affords a sense of belonging. The spaces she envisions and references grow from a shared vision, are meaningful, rooted in community, and, ultimately, transform those who visit them.
Her last book demystified the craft of immersive storytelling through case studies. Reimagined Worlds: Narrative Placemaking for People, Play, and Purpose is written with similar clarity and quiet authority. It breaks the placemaking process down to its constituent elements and how they can be combined. It is, in its way, both a manifesto and an essay on futurism.
Kerrison exhorts designers, architects, and creators to build the world people want to inhabit. She shares not only her own insights as a leader in the space but also the wisdom of several luminaries. These include Joe Rohde, Nancy Seruto, Wendy McClellan Anderson, Taylor Stoermer, Mark Wee, and Barbara Groth. It also includes Bryce Kerrison, Generation Alpha, a full-time elementary school student, gamer, and sports fanatic—her own ten-year-old son.
“The idea for this book came about from a question that someone asked me during one of my presentations,” she tells blooloop. “That question was, ‘It’s great that you had IP like Star Wars to work on. But what about the rest of us who are building public places: town squares, libraries, malls, theatres? How can we apply the tools and insights on telling immersive stories and narrative placemaking to ordinary places?’
“I thought that was an interesting question because I already believed that these are tools you can use in any type of place or experience you design.”
People seek connection
In every environment, in every experience, we want to immerse ourselves in a narrative and to feel it, she says:
“We want to feel connected, to feel human. We seek these places in our lives.”
For a semester, Margaret Kerrison taught a Narrative Placemaking class to architecture students at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
“My first question to them was, tell me about your special place. 95% of the students who answered that question chose non-built places that meant something to them. Most of them chose places in nature. One brought up their grandmother’s house. I related to that because my grandmother’s room was a place of great meaning for me. It was a place where I felt safe, a place where I felt loved.”
This is the feeling she is getting at when she talks about designing for the public – for people.
Her new book is rooted in a consideration of how to design places that are people-centric and narrative-driven:
“We are losing sight of the need to build places meant for the users and the visitors. Many people design things because they look cool or stand out visually in the city landscape. They’re designing things that are unique and a ‘wow’ landmark. I want to challenge all designers to also think about how these places make us feel, returning to this idea of how a place can feel transformational. How can it make us feel more connected not only to ourselves but to each other as a society and as a whole?
Form and function follow fulfilment
So how can that individual idea of a place that is uniquely special to each of us be leveraged to inform a more general sense of place in a public space?
“It’s a big ask,” she says. “My answer is that in any place you design, you’re not trying to fulfil the unique desire of every single person. However, it is important to set values concerning what your place is about. With those values comes the meaning of why you’re coming to this place. It fulfils something.”
This is the meaning of her concept statement: “Form and function follow fulfilment”, an evolution of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘form and function are one’, itself adapted from the famous statement of his mentor, Louis Sullivan: ‘Form follows function.’
Explaining her version, Kerrison says:
“It refers to wish-fulfilment. You’re not granting the wish of every single person who walks in. But you’re all coming together to this place because it represents something. Whether that representation is creativity, community, education, or whatever, that set of values is why you’re coming to that place: to fulfil that desire.
“You are designing something intentionally. So, when you create this set of values, this theme of what the place is about, you draw the type of people who want to be fulfilled in that manner to your place. It just depends on what you want to build, who it is for, and the change you want every single person who comes into your place, or your experience, to walk away with.”
The guest promise
An excerpt from Margaret Kerrison’s Reimagined Worlds: Narrative Placemaking for People, Play, and Purpose clarifies this:
Form and Function follow Fulfillment
Like designing any immersive experience, a public place captures the imagination of its visitor. It offers a promise. How a place looks (Form) and its practical purpose (Function), should be informed by its “guest promise” (Fulfillment).
People = Fulfillment
Place = Form
Purpose = Function
Does one element matter more than the other? I would argue that Fulfillment is the driver of the other two. Understanding the guest promise starts with asking how you want your visitors to feel. It encourages prioritizing the emotional and psychological well-being of your guests/users when creating or engaging with something, rather than solely focusing on external appearances or practicality.
This concept highlights the importance of considering the deeper needs and desires of individuals and designing accordingly to create meaningful and satisfying experiences.
The “guest promise” refers to the promises made by the creators and designers of the experience to their visitors. It informs what the guests can expect from the experience, including the story and quality of the ORO Editions 44 experience, the level of interactivity, the safety of the environment, and the overall level of satisfaction that they can expect to receive. It’s a way for a guest to fulfill their wishes and to immerse in an aspirational fantasy.
Achieving fulfillment becomes a holistic experience for your visitor’s senses. It is encapsulated into a cohesive story that makes your visitor feel emotionally engaged and invested.
The importance of storytelling
While we want to feel something, we also want to be transformed:
“If you think about how favourite stories from movies, TV shows, or books can make you feel, I argue that you can also feel these same things in places. A place changes you, like a story changes you, like a person changes you. Every conversation changes you, good and bad – and every place changes you, too. Whether you go to a new or familiar place, every visit changes you. As humans, we feel on a multi-layered, emotional level.”
We are, she believes, continually seeking ways in which we can be more in touch with our humanity.
Storytelling has a role in this.
“Some of the best places include you in that story. They make you feel you belong and that you are welcome there.
“I have been to museums and experiences where I walk in and feel this isn’t my story. There is no entry point for me to understand or visualise how I can be a part of this story. The best places, however, are inclusive and welcoming, valuing me as a unique visitor. Ultimately, they empower me to take action. Not only do I feel something, but I feel connected to myself and the people around me. I also walk away thinking I’m stepping into a better world.
“Today, more than ever, when there’s so much not-so-great news, and the world is facing so many issues, we need to be reminded that we’re all in this together. It’s important to consider how to create places that inspire that sense of hope and optimism for the world.”
Margaret Kerrison on placemaking
Placemaking doesn’t need to seek radical transformations:
“To change someone’s life philosophy completely would be a very big call. But having a place for that conversation is important. Museums and cultural institutions should not just be places where people come for answers but also for people to ask questions and have healthy, real conversations with each other.
“Using museums as an example, what should a museum look like? Should it, rather than being merely a place housing a collection of artefacts, also be a place for collaboration and conversation? Should it be a place for asking the hard questions and not necessarily having all the answers to them?”
This is, she feels, important:
“You provide a space where people feel sufficiently safe and comfortable to want to join in that open conversation, that story, that world. It’s especially important when trying to transform and change minds and make people feel hopeful about what’s to come, rather than overwhelmed, or that there’s no chance for any exploration or experimentation in life.”
This is something we all need to be reminded of. And it’s one of the elements inspiring the title of her book:
“I felt that any place that successfully creates a meaningful experience is focused on the people, on a purpose – and on play.”
Authentic playfulness
Play, Kerrison observes, is something we are losing sight of:
“We don’t spend enough time on play; our whole focus is on work, being productive, being efficient. Where is the time for play? Play is vital to us as human beings. If I play a game with you or go out and have an experience with you for two hours, I will know more about the real you than I would if I’d known you for two years. When you are at play with someone, you get to the essence of who they are. You let all your guard down.”
Well-imagined spaces can help in reaching that authentic playfulness.
“They help break down the barriers, so everyone is on a level playing field. It’s about you creating a platform, a world, a place where religion, age, race, nationality, gender – all of those things don’t matter because you are here for that one purpose. Maybe it’s to play, or maybe it’s to educate yourself. Maybe it’s for relaxation or recreation. Ultimately, it’s a place for everyone to feel that safety, to be themselves truly, and not feel they have to bring the professional or responsible or superficial side of themselves.”
Concerning how designers and architects can approach this as a concept, she says:
“It’s a reminder, I think, rather than a new concept. When we think about the great architects and designers of the past, it’s clear that, besides nature, architecture is the original immersive experience.
“I always use the example of the Sagrada Família: what an outrageous, whimsical, mind-blowing place. When you walk in and look up, you can’t even define what it’s trying to achieve, but it feels so inspired – and it changes you.”
Examples of good placemaking
She also cites other spaces that embody the vision outlined in her books:
“I love Hauser and Wirth. They have several galleries worldwide, but the one I’m talking about is the one in downtown Los Angeles. It’s a former flour mill turned into a multi-use space, including free art galleries, a restaurant, chicken coops, and a bookstore.”
Hauser and Wirth’s space includes a public garden surrounded by street art murals. It serves as a restful oasis of tranquillity, where the beds of vegetables and herbs, as well as the chicken coop, support the onsite restaurant. This is part of the gallery’s strategy to integrate community with urban food production and sustainability.
She also references teamLab’s Planets in Tokyo, which combines digital art with the beauty of nature.
“The teamLab Planets experience was transformational for me.”
Margaret Kerrison’s STORY technique
In practical terms, as she outlined in her first book, every project starts with five questions that she encapsulates in a strategy she calls her STORY technique:
- S is for story. Why share this story with the world? What is its reason for being? Why does this need to exist? On top of that, why should it be you to tell that story? I think that’s extremely important too. If you’re not the right person to tell that story, maybe you should include someone to support you in telling a more holistic story.
- T is theme. For any good story, there should be a theme. The same is true of the place you are creating. What is the meaning, the purpose, of this place? Can you place a twist on it? What is the moral of its story? To understand that theme, together as a creative team, you have to establish a set of values and align them around it. If you choose five values you can agree upon, that can help shape your theme.
- O is one of a kind. What makes it unique? How is this place differentiated from any other experience or place? There is always an easy way out. You can replicate something that someone else has done before and insert your story in it. Yet why would you do that when you have the opportunity to intentionally design something truly unique to your brand, world, and story?
- R is reflect. It goes back to this question of why you as a storyteller. It’s concerned with finding the differentiating value and characteristics that you bring to the table. For writers, it would be about finding your unique voice. For designers and architects, it’s the thumbprint that evokes you and calls people to you. It’s vital to know what that characteristic is because it means you understand your value proposition.
- Y is for yearn. This is the wish fulfilment aspect. What is it that you want to fulfil for your visitors and guests? Again, this is not to say that you’re going to grant every single individual wish. But how does this place that you’re creating represent that set of values where people understand what the guest promise is when they come to this place?
A scalable method
The STORY technique is the foundation of her approach to a project. After that, she adds:
“I go into more specifics regarding breaking it down and thinking about it in more detail. The steps don’t necessarily come in order; sometimes, these questions are answered later on – or sooner – in the project. Ultimately, they are questions that need to be asked. Then, you, as a creative team, can be aligned with what you’re building.
“We are all pieces of a puzzle. Everyone on the team has different disciplines and responsibilities, but you need to ensure you’re building the same picture. If my idea of creativity differs from your definition, then we have a problem. So, setting those values and aligning on what creativity means for your team is extremely important.”
Margaret Kerrison’s method is infinitely scaleable:
“I’ve had all kinds of people reach out to me: scientists who have started thinking differently about how to communicate their work in the scientific field and are using the STORY method, students, professors, interior designers, artists, graphic designers. I don’t think there’s anyone I haven’t heard from yet. I’m so glad that it’s helpful to everyone because it’s not just about designing theme parks or immersive experiences. It’s about designing all places and experiences.”
At its simplest:
“If you are intentional in asking the right questions, rather than immediately jumping to answers, then you’re going to feel much more informed about how you can design something holistically.”
Involving the community
Involving the local area and integrating projects into the community is crucial:
“When I join any project, step one is adopting a learner’s mindset. I assume nothing. I come in with the idea that I will learn everything I can about the subject matter, the IP, and the world, as well as the people whom it serves – and the people who created the stories previously and continue to tell those stories. Everyone who is a stakeholder in that project must be included, especially the local community.
“I went to Ireland last week with my family for my father-in-law’s funeral. We stayed in a hotel and had a wonderful meal. The hotel was beautifully designed. But I could not have told you that it was in Ireland without looking outside the windows. It was a beautiful space, but it goes back to this question about the authenticity of your place: Why this place, here? Why did you build it?
“I could have gone to that restaurant in Malibu – Manhattan, even. Nothing was referencing this beautiful coastal part of Ireland.
“If you bring in the local community, if you bring in stories from the local region, and have very intentional details and characteristics that are unique to this place, then it will feel authentic. It will have a reason for being there.”
Don’t just follow trends
It is tempting to lean into trends, she says:
“People like to take what works in one place and transcribe it to another. Sometimes it works. But as a consumer and visitor, I want something more when I go to these places. I want something truly unique to this environment, community, and place. Is there artwork by local artists? Is the stonework, the brick, or the process of craftsmanship specific to the local area? Are there activities that support and celebrate the local culture and community? How does it involve and give back to the community?”
“As a consumer, these are all the things I seek. I have options and choices on where I can go. If I can find a place that is truly a local gem and authentic to the place, then I will choose that one over the destination that I can probably experience somewhere else in the world.”
Embracing authenticity, she describes calls for designers to step outside their comfort zone.
“It has to do with the courage as designers to push yourselves, and to want to include others in the design process. It’s easy to take an idea that has succeeded elsewhere and plop it over here. But it takes courage to decide to do things differently, to do things that are authentic to the place. It answers the question of ‘Why build it here?’ It answers the question of ‘Why us?”
A call to action
Margaret Kerrison’s book, she says, is a call to action:
“I want designers and creators to be reminded of what’s truly important in building these places and experiences: places where we all can feel more human and connected, places that make us feel alive again. We are so distracted. Our attention span is terrible. We’re also multitasking; we’re stressed, we’re anxious, we can’t focus on any one thing at a time. Mental health and loneliness are huge problems.”
Compounding this, we are, she adds, also losing the places where we used to gather:
“People aren’t going to churches anymore. Country clubs aren’t really a thing anymore. If you don’t have children, you’re not going to school. Many people don’t even go into offices because we’re working remotely. So where are the places that we can meet to create connections and have a sense of belonging?”
And, specifically:
“How do we create spaces where people feel community, where they feel present and alive in that fleeting moment and also want to come back, alone or with others? How do we build places that we can all love and share?”
What if? Why not?
Margaret Kerrison’s favourite questions are, ‘What if…?’ and ‘Why not?’
“A lot of people get irritated by them,” she says. “But these are questions that we should be asking. We can’t take things for granted. If we have the courage to dream big and to think creatively about how we can serve the community, then we can build unique, authentic places where we can feel more alive.
“Will it make money? If you’re building places that people love, then that will come. Many of the world’s decision-makers want to build sure things and follow the tried and tested path. But, ultimately, the public will be the judge of whether something is worth coming to again and again. As Billy Wilder said, ‘[Collectively,] the audience is a genius.’ When people ask me, ‘How do you know when a place is successful?’ my answer is, ‘The people will tell us.’”
Ultimately, stepping from the well-trodden path involves daring to be exceptional.
“It’s hard to want to be exceptional,” Kerrison says. “Not only does it take courage to be creative and think differently, but it also puts a spotlight on you – and it’s a big risk. So, you’ve got to be prepared to fail in that spotlight.
“And yet, if you want to challenge yourself creatively in life, then why not go for it if you have the opportunity? What are the voices in your head that are holding you back?”
Top image: Rain Vortex at Jewel Changi Airport
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