“Extravagance is, for me, complete silence.
Nothingness, that is extravagant”- Arata Isozaki
MA, always in the capital as per Arata Isozaki, is the in-between- pauses. The filler between the spaces, gap amongst objects, silence amongst sounds, pauses between times or the form of rhythm all is associated with MA, something that is curated by what was, what is and what will be. The concept of MA is not new to Japanese culture; it has been included in art, music, dance, architecture and culture for centuries. Every space knowingly or unknowingly follows this concept, you hear the idea of black and white or the inclusion of negative spaces or voids in a building, all this lies in the broader aspect of the space-time concept.
About Arata Isozaki
Renowned as the “Emperor of Japanese Architecture” and 2019 Pritzker Prize winner, Arata Isozaki has gracefully blended the history and culture of East and West for 60 years with his designs. His vision focused on designing unconventional and prolific architectural structures that are constantly fresh designs and maintain constant evolution.
Being a Hiroshima Atomic Bomb witness, Arata Isozaki grew up amongst barracks, shelters and complete ruins imagining how people would reconstruct homes and cities. Starting from ground zero with no buildings or a city to look to, Isozaki witnessed the void of architecture first-hand. Hence he focused on creating structures designed around space, time and everything in between. He unified the various areas of theatre, music, art, photography, painting, architecture and daily life through the concept of MA.
The Concept of MA
Arata Isozaki describes MA as the” natural distance between two or more things existing in a continuity … giving rise to both spatial and temporal formulations.” MA is understood as creating separation while bringing it together producing a subject and an object. However, it has been westernised as the relation between the passive and the active spaces, the human and nature and the intuition and evolution. Hence, the concept of MA is broadcasted to a broader philosophy not limited to physical surroundings but to the perception and way of life. The planning of spaces in a particular environment determines how the place is to be occupied, used and recognized which in turn decides the daily lifestyle of people living around. There are planned movements in design, art and architecture intrinsic to MA.
MA: Time and Space
The main factor in the construction of a space is time. Time and space go hand-in-hand, the structures deteriorate over time containing people’s memories and experiences. The evolution of the functionality of a place affects the design and perception of that space, the traditionalism of conventional tea houses conveniently shifted to the popularisation of modern cafes succumbing to the series of clichés and gags of the cultural commercial world.
According to Japanese architecture, spaces are studied as the edges rather than the void in between. The dimensional intervals are worked on before transforming the emptiness into a room or house. Space is considered two-dimensional measuring the distance between the points before associating it to the three-dimensional design. Vocalised through a tea house by Arata Isozaki, the aspect of space in the concept of MA revolves around a place where life is lived, a house. The tea houses were constructed to create a feeling of calm and lightness hence the features and elements were made to create an environment specific to a particular emotion associated with that place and the period it is set in.
Arata Isozaki: Architecture and MA
The devastation of his hometown due to the atomic bombing majorly influenced the way Arata Isozaki comprehended architecture. His vision was always to reinvent and adapt to change to create another reality that cloaks the concrete modern world with unrealistic notions and presents architecture oriented to the cause. The concept of MA ignites the universe of constructing architecture contemplating the gap between existence and extinction.
Isozaki mixed the styles of Metabolism and Brutalism whilst working under his mentor Kenzo Tange in the starting stages of his life, later stretching into the grids and modules of Modernism. His style was quickly affected by transcending the rationality of the Western intertwined with the lightness of the Japanese culture which led to the modulation of the concept of MA in architecture. His awareness of the craft was not majestic monuments but creating conflations of different ideas designed for the ages.
Arata Isozaki: Art and MA
Dedicated to creating change, Arata Isozaki never limited himself to architecture. He was a great influencer to the design and art world contributing to the field of philosophy, writing, music, painting and theatre. His idea was experimenting with invisibility, the nothingness that becomes something and then fades into nothing again. He brought together different forms and styles tying them to the concept of MA, the greater force of all. He believed that destruction and demolition are the contrary to evolution and change therefore proposing a world where the void between time and space is profoundly looked at and visualised to create cultural and artisanal history.
Arata Isozaki: Philosophy around MA
MA is a way of life, by not worrying about a space lasting for centuries or creating serious structures that speak of grandeur the concept of MA focuses on keeping things light. Arata Isozaki believed that the concept of emptiness was caught up amid action designing buildings pleasant to inhabit and calm at peace to its spectators. The main focus was not to create buildings that speak volumes but places that introduce serenity and great clarity.
Imagine an infinite loop of time and space, creating timeless structures that withstand the experiences and dreams of generations on one hand while witnessing century-old buildings with countless memories rust due to the effect of time. The strands of time and space are braided together in creating architecture that perceives the subconscious user behaviour and works on the eternal element of the physical surroundings.
Reference List:
- LUCKEN, M. (no date) ‘Retracing the Emergence of a “Japanese” Concept’, Indiana University. Available at: file:///C:/Users/91799/Downloads/4544-Article%20Text-19761-1-10-20210712.pdf .
- Architecture view (1979) The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/25/archives/architecture-view-on-the-japanese-esthetic.html (Accessed: 26 July 2024).
- MA: Place, space, void (2024) Kyoto Journal. Available at: https://www.kyotojournal.org/culture-arts/ma-place-space-void/ (Accessed: 26 July 2024).
- (No date) The master of ma leaves us with a wry smile. Available at: https://www.architectmagazine.com/Design/the-master-of-ma-leaves-us-with-a-wry-smile_o (Accessed: 26 July 2024).
- Schmidt, M.T. (2015) Ma: Space where flows meet, Scholarly Publishing Services – UW Libraries. Available at: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/items/cbab0e57-0b4e-4904-af99-7845d4f26f74 (Accessed: 26 July 2024).
