The London Eye: General Public and Private

The relationship between spaces, being public and private, in and around the London Eye changes all the time, it's very dynamic.

Such as the ramp area of the London Eye, there's always been unwritten rules for queuing for anything, a ride, a shop, an attraction. As you walk up to the ramp, the entire area feels very private, at the end of the queue, at least, as most queues do.

You take your position at the end, and slowly, work your way to the front, and as you go the space in front of you which was one classified as being private, has been vacated, and has changed, to being public, but it's only public to you, it's still private to anyone behind you as the space is classified as being temporally yours until it is time to move on.

As you move forward, this same effect is happening to the people queuing up behind you. It's almost a system of human traffic lights, governed by the unwritten rules of decency and manners.

I find in most spaces, there's a hidden design to get people moving, in a very controlled,
step-by-step formation, be it at a crossing or in a shopping centre. You don't walk next to someone that you don't know as it's invading their personal space and will most probably make the unwitting stranger feel very uncomfortable as you could be up to anything.

This gets me onto my next point, when you have managed to traverse the queue, there's then more unwritten rules, that your expected to follow before you enter the pod. As other people exit the pod, your not likely to see anyone barge straight through them into the pod, to get a good viewing spot.

The entire area is strictly private until it has been full cleared of people, and only then are you allowed to enter the pod, personally, I think even if the barriers weren't locked, people would still wait just out of habit and no one would be any wiser.

When your in the pod, you are not alone. There are other people in there with you, if someone is standing at the edge of the pod, trying to find a good view, your not going to go and stand right next to them, your going to wait until you can find your own space, unless next to them is the only space available.

This shows a type of ever changing evolution in the classifications of spaces, how they can change due to the position of others, the spaces available and the position of yourself in the environment.
As the London Eye's pods revolve around a point, eventually, it manages to do an entire 360 degree turn around, this means that at different times the best viewing points change, and everyone moves around.
So spaces and areas go from semi private to completely public as they are "less desirable" spots.

When you come to exit the pod, the ramp area, which on the way in was a complex system of traffic light, has now become a public right of exit, as your not waiting to get on, your waiting to exit the attraction. There's a completely different feel to the whole area now upon exit.
When leaving, no one is going to complain if you pass them, while if you did this previously you would be violating their personal space and also breaking the unwritten rules ( pushing in ).