Arata Isozaki explains the Japanese concept of Ma in video

Thanks to our media partner PLANE-SITE, we present here the first video of the series “Time-Space-Existence”, an interesting interview with Arata Isozaki.

Made in preparation for the Time-Space-Existence exhibition, which will take place in Venice starting in May 2018 on the occasion of the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, the video series features interviews with some of the world’s most recognized contemporary architects and designers.

Developed in collaboration with the GAA Foundation with the support of the European Cultural Centre, this video focuses on one of the most celebrated masters of modern architecture: Arata Isozaki (b. 1931, Ōita, Japan).

Filmed at Isozaki’s home in Karuizawa, Japan, the video presents Isozaki’s vision of the themes of space and time, and their intertwining into the Japanese concept of ma, the space and time that lies in-between things. In Japanese culture, the ma is a meaningful void that fills the universe; “silence between sounds (…) space between objects, this is important” Isozaki says in the interview.
Furthermore, during the video, the real meaning of apparently irreconcilable dualisms such as silence/extravagance, space/void, and difference/coherence unfolds, thus transforming such dualisms into relationships, and revealing the profound conceptual framework into which Isozaki has developed both its professional and personal vision of the world.

Cover image and all photos © PLANE-SITE

The video (click on the arrow to play)

About Time-Space-Existence

Time, space and existence. These three concepts sketch out the contours of the world around us — a fact especially true within architecture. Taking these words as its starting point, the GAA Foundation is set to curate its fourth collateral exhibition in the context of La Biennale di Venezia Architettura, entitled Time-Space-Existence and opening in May 2018. Featuring over 100 established and emerging architects, and unapologetically international in breadth, the exhibition provides a fascinating complement to a biennial traditionally drawn along national lines.

Useful links

PLANE-SITE: https://plane-site.com/
GAA Foundation: http://www.globalartaffairs.org
European Cultural Centre (ECC): http://www.europeanculturalcentre.eu/index.php
Arata Isozaki & Associates: http://www.isozaki.co.jp/