Irreplaceable: How to Create Extraordinary Places That Bring People Together

Do we still need physical places like grocery stores, restaurants, and office buildings? Or will the “Replacement Economy” led by the tech titans and retail giants wipe out these venues in their rapid ascent to unicorn status?

What about museums, universities, and performing arts venues? Considering the power of technology today, can’t we replace these relics with faster, cheaper, and more efficient online tools, apps, and AI? 

Through engaging storytelling, human behavior insights, and proven design techniques, Kevin Kelley—an attention architect and cofounder of Shook Kelley, a strategic design firm that pioneered the field of “convening”—unfolds why physical places are essential to civil society, business, and community. 

In these pages, he reveals what it takes for brick-and-mortar establishments to attract an audience and maintain a competitive edge in our increasingly digital world, whether you’re a:

• Retail leader or institutional manager trying to attract people to your offering while keeping the disruptors at bay
• Student of design who values social facilitation over object-oriented design
• Concerned citizen worried about the loss of community and civility

Irreplaceable offers a welcomed antidote to the anti-human digital future crushing our main streets and infiltrating every corner of our lives. It provides a comprehensive roadmap for creating human experiences that have the power to convene and bring friends, neighbors, and strangers together in prosocial environments in ways the digital replacements can’t replicate.

About the Author

Kevin Ervin Kelley, AIA, is an award-winning Architect, Experience Designer, and Cofounder of the bi-coastal strategic design firm Shook Kelley. Kevin’s expertise is in studying how the environment of a place affects our behavior, perception, and decision-making. Since opening their firm’s doors in 1992, he has worked with executive leadership teams for some of the world’s most well-known brands, such as Harley-Davidson, Whole Foods Market, Kraft, The J.M. Smucker Company, The Cleveland Orchestra, professional sports teams, universities, urban districts, and hundreds of local and regional businesses to stay relevant and profitable in our rapidly changing modern landscape. 

Dimensions: 16.05 x 2.51 x 23.67 cm