A process that is carried out at the cellular level which results in the assembly, arrangement of constituent parts, or disassembly of structures in the space external to the outermost structure of a cell. For cells without external protective or external encapsulating structures this refers to space outside of the plasma membrane, and also covers the host cell environment outside an intracellular parasite. [ GOC:jl GOC:ai GOC:dph GOC:mah ]