The exclusive collective landscape

Inclusion is the experience that transforms a state of inequality into equality. To understand the discourse regarding an Inclusive landscape, it is necessary to dismantle the incentives generating the desire or the drive for exclusivity. Furthermore, the linguistic paradox proves that the expressions ‘inclusion’ and ‘inclusive’ have a similar meaning and can be freely used as synonyms, whilst their antonyms are presenting radically different approaches. The adjective ‘exclusive’ creates an alluring feeling and the connotations attached to it are positive, meanwhile ‘exclusion’ is conceived as an adverse concept, associated with rejection. Its etymology derives from medieval latin ‘ex-claudere’, meaning to shut out.1 The psychology behind this craving is to create the conditions solely available to a small number of people to elevate themselves to a certain status, distinguishing themselves from the rest. Exclusiveness is an attractive concept that creates desire. Its realm includes cars, properties, and jewellery. Exclusive landscapes are embodied in the unique representation, being at the same time a combination of luxury, and beauty, however, remaining beyond the reach. Therefore, the Exclusive landscape represents the one belonging to the realm of fantasy, ambition, and craving. Exclusive landscape means the one a majority do not have access to, the landscape to which there is limited access, and the one that is out of reach. The perception of the Exclusive landscape will differ among people. For some, it will mean the view from the apartment of the luxurious property or the imagined scenery of a long-awaited vacation. Others will mean the view of inaccessible nature, distant and unreachable for the majority of people immersed in an urban structure. For certain groups, it will mean taking a walk in the woods while being, in actuality, enclosed in the four walls of a hospital, or prison, totally-excluded. In other words, the exclusive landscape is something to which most would not have equal admission, and to which access is obstructed. Exclusivity is connected to the realm of limitation and desire, concentrating goods and power in the hands of the few. Inclusion, on the other hand, is dispersing the goods and allocating them to collective, ubiquitous use. Open access to an Exclusive landscape which would available to many will become the most desirable form of Inclusion. This virtual form of belonging and participation could be expressed in the form of a collective Exclusive landscape. Invoking the feeling of exclusivity, and recognizing how attractive it can be, the application of Virtual Reality and its immersive technology has the potential to remodel inclusion.