Liminal spaces are the in-between zones of transition, where the ordinary slips into the uncanny — think airports at 3 a.m., fluorescent halls, half-empty malls. They carry the charge of shared memory and broken familiarity: déjà vu made visual in the corridors, gyms, and waiting rooms we’ve all passed through but never truly inhabited. Rem Koolhaas traced their commercial DNA in Junkspace (2001), while the pandemic gave #liminalspaces new force as once-familiar public spaces turned vacant and ominous. Today’s liminal aesthetic is both eerie and communal, a collective dreamscape we instantly recognize but cannot quite place.

Between Worlds

• A24 turns internet liminal lore Backrooms into a feature film
• Valentino goes liminal in their A/W 25 campaign starring singer, Clairo
• Günseli Yalcinkaya on TikTok #liminalspaces
• Photographer Todd Hido’s vacant suburbs at dusk