Dari Simulakra Menuju Ruang Autentik: Strategi Arsitektur Neo-Kontemporer sebagai Respons Terhadap Fomo-Driven Urbanism dalam Merebut Kembali Ruang Anak Muda yang Terintegrasi

Abstract

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is becoming more and more common among urban youth, and this has had a profound impact on how young people choose their lifestyle, social identities, and interactions with physical space. According to Przybylski et al. (2013), FOMO is a widespread fear of being left out of fulfilling experiences that others are having. It is not limited to digital behavior; it also manifests in the built environment as what Baudrillard (1981) refers to as simulacra, a condition in which urban spaces lose their true functions and are replaced by improvised venues that merely simulate them. This is seen in Medan City, where parking lots, cafés, and commercial atriums have been methodically converted into temporary sports and creative workshop spaces due to the lack of integrated youth facilities. This study uses a qualitative design-based research methodology that combines precedent studies, climate-responsive site analysis, field observation, and a quantitative survey of 100 young respondents in Medan between the ages of 15 and 29. The results validate a Neo-Contemporary approach by identifying three specific examples of FOMO-driven simulacra in Medan and confirming that 57.1% of young respondents favor a Tropical Urban architectural style. In response, FOMOW (Feel, Own, Move, Outplay, Werken) is suggested as an integrated youth facility that uses adaptive and genuine spatial architecture to bring urban space back from Baudrillard's third level of simulation, Absence of Reality, to its first stage, Reflection of Reality. By providing a theoretically based framework for creating young spaces that actively combat simulacra and reroute FOMO toward meaningful and productive experiences, this study adds to the architectural conversation.