The third realm of luxury: Conceptualizing the connections between real places and imaginary spaces

Abstract

This chapter examines the interaction between luxurious real places and imaginary spaces and introduces and expands on our idea of the third realm of luxury. We begin by elaborating the nature of luxury before exploring the idea of connecting real places and imaginary spaces. We go on to argue that the interplay and interdependencies between these two spatial realms of luxury is today exposing a third realm of luxury arising from the nexus of real and imaginary luxury. Through our expansion of the idea of the third realm of luxury in this chapter, then, we offer an original conceptual approach to understanding and analyzing the spatial aspects of luxury. We provide the context for the contributions to this volume, all of which analyze luxury in a real place and its connection to imaginary spaces. We close this chapter by highlighting how each contribution offers evidence of the significance of the third realm of luxury.