MA / VOID

MA/VOID Interpretation of the Void in Berlin

Shotaro Oshima

contents PROLOGUE

Bernauer Strasse

1

INTRODUCTION

the Japanese sense of nothingness Ma

5

THE FIRST VIEW POINT

The Border Condition 1

8

The Border Condition 2

14

THE SECIND VIEW POINT

Ma - Japanese sense of 'Void' -

21

Interpretation of Ma

23

Perception of Ma

26

The Void in Berlin

28

Elements of Ma in Berlin

30

Ma Generator

SUMMARY

Atmosphere by the contrast

33

34

BIBLIOGRAPHY

36

NOTE

EXPERIMENT

32

Ma - like phenomena in Glasgow

37

PROLOGUE

fig.1

I embarked on a field trip for my final design thesis to the Mackintosh School of Architecture, in the warm autumn 2014 with unsatisfied feelings. Because, nevertheless I am studying abroad to Scotland (I wanted to work on a local project), the school spontaneously had chosen Berlin as the final thesis site, hence when I arrived at the Schönefeld Airport I was totally innocent and without any prejudice toward the destination.

The outskirts of the city which I viewed from my train window were dull and gray housing blocks along with sporadic empty desolate fields. The city is obviously not completed and fully matured. It is still waiting for rebirth like a baby in the womb.

1

ďŹ g.2

As I happened upon Bernauer Strasse, I breathed this precise, intense, emotional and yet thought provoking atmosphere. I could not help but be overcome as the dense urban backdrop gave way to spaciousness, consisting of deep green grassy ďŹ elds glowing under a late summer setting sun. At the moment, I temporarily forgot that I am in a centre of metropolis.

2

ďŹ g.3

While walking down on Bernauer Strasse, a long linear object (a marginally decayed monument) suddenly came into my sight, these were remarkably solid, monolithic and of cold texture. It was the ruins of the Berlin Wall. People (probably most of them are travelers) seemed excited by the ruins, one of the most popular sightseeing hot-spots in Berlin, while my feeling was one of boredom (but some of graďŹƒtis on the Walls surface was quite impressive), because other ruins that I had witnessed in my life to date had been of a intricate, ancient and of an often mysterious nature that possessed a quiet dignity which is covered by spontaneous vegetation. (This bias was due to my 2012 summer travels through Thailand where many ancient ruins were on display.) However the ruins I encountered in Berlin where of a stark contrast. Isolated and minimalist... a slim alien object.

Undoubtedly, this modern ruin has changed my bias toward past-lived constructions. At the same time, I had further shock: the entire West Berlin was imprisoned by a mere 20 cm concrete wall!

However, immediately, this temporal impression was overturned.

3

ďŹ g.4

In my imagination, (because of my reluctant pre-research) the Wall was just a single traumatic division partition. But I notice that the East and West was territorially divided by linear mega-void rather than an actual complete physical wall. From this point of view, the wall was just a device for the visualization of the void. The open, chilled deep-green grassy ďŹ eld where I was standing, was once a void called no-man's land and the main source of much misery for the city.

This simple discovery caused me to address a question. What is the void? #1

4

INTRODUCTION

The ediďŹ ce, which had provided Berlin with a sad universal notoriety during the Cold War era, divided people of same culture, language and descent into East and West for 28 years, two months and 28 days, and this border fortiďŹ cation was not directed against potential intruders but against the builder's own citizens. Beyond the border line, more than 130 people perished while they tried to cross the deeply-ranged sequence of obstacles and around two-thirds of the victims lost their life in central Berlin.

Today, a large number of remnants and memorial places serve as a reminder of the melancholic story of those troubled times. However, ironically, people come to Berlin to experience not just the Berlin Wall but an already existing idea of what this wall should look like. Sometimes overwhelming existence of memorials blow up ones own (personal) point of view of the Wall and related space: voids.

Interestingly, it is a fact that there are dierent perceptions of the Wall among Berliners, one of which being a popular understanding of it. The wall as we know it was a boundary and a division line, nevertheless some people hailed it as an anti-fascist protective rampart while those on the other side slated it as the wall of shame. Ambiguous perceptions towards the wall provoked me to examine possible unrevealed interpretations of the Wall and void space.

5

In order for this thesis to present a clear analysis of the void in Berlin, I provide two main viewpoints.

The ďŹ rst of which is environments of the Berlin Wall. This would attempt to address the investigation of the immediate surroundings, both (east and west), the environments, textures, contexts and then emboss these in order to highlight previously invisible aspects of the Wall and no-man's land.

The second view point is focused on the void (nothingness, no-man's land), To explore further interpretation of this notion of nothingness, I would utilize the Japanese spatial concept of Ma as a lens to observe the nothingness in-between the east and west, after examining the dierence of the western (Berlin) and Japanese sense of space and nothingness.

After studying the two view points, I would propose spaces, where people would feel memorable Ma , in Berlin.

This thesis is not meant to be aďŹƒrmation or admiration of the Berlin Wall and its history. It would rather aim to provide another point of view that attempts to grasp the intangible entities of the Wall from an architectural perspective and reveal a spatial story of no-man's land through utilizing the Japanese sense of nothingness Ma as a lens to observe the massive void in Berlin.

6

THE FIRST VIEW POINT

fig.5

It is 165 kilometers long and confronts all of Berlin's conditions, including lakes, forests, periphery; parts of it area intensely metropolitan, others suburban. Also, the wall is not stable; and it is not a single entity, as I thought. It is more a situation, a permanent, slow-motion evolution, some of it abrupt and clearly planned, some of it improvised... Rem Koolhaas, the founding partner of OMA, and of its research-oriented counterpart AMO based in Rotterdam, embarked on a trip to Berlin and embodied his final thesis based on his experiences and researches of the Berlin Wall. His work envisioned the possibility of the wall as an architectural device of integration rather than that of segregation. At the same time, he perceived that the Wall was not a single entity but it was an aggregation of environments ranging from rural to urban.

In order to examine a variety of contexts and accelerate clearer understanding of the Wall as a border landscape, I selected two different border conditions; The Lübars and Potsdamer Platz region, where opposing site contexts, languages, density and developments are evident.

I am of the opinion that when compared, the two comparative regions would emboss the value of the space between East and West and would also highlight the partial disconnection and conflicting developments/environments.

7

The Border Condition 1

West Berlin

East Berlin

Lübars

The Berlin suburb of Lübars, 'Berlin's last village', is the oldest village in northern Berlin. To many Berliners Lübars is considered to be the paradigm of 'healthy life in the country'. In spite of a high reputation as a beautiful natural landscape and village, the village was separated to the east and west, and it is still visible from the aerial photograph. (fig.6) The border fortification first crossed the rural landscape, in the middle of the village of Lübars, before reaching the urban area, following the old track of the Niederbarnim railway (a, fig7, p.9 ) that runs parallel to the suburb of Märkisches Viertel before reaching the city districts of Pankow and Wilhelmsruh.

8

1989 a

Märkisches Viertel

9

fig.6

2010 ямБg.7

10

Remaining Viod Space ďŹ g.8

11

2. 3.

I

fig.9

3. 4.

fig.10

2. 3. 4.

IV

III

II

fig.11

12

A

The Border Condition 1: Notice

The former border strip is still recognizable by its vegetation which has grown up spontaneously, separating the border strip from the rural fields of Lübars. The spontaneous vegetation can be clearly distinguished from other type of greenery. The border strip designed botanical garden. ( I , fig.10, p.12 ) The former existence of the border becomes apparent through the pronounced urban contrast between east and west. The contrast between the solid, dense and multi-storyed apartments of the 1970s in the west ( II, fig.12, p.12 ) and the garden allotments, cemetery, and houses in the east side ( III, fig.12, p.12 ). Also huge shopping complex in the west (food market, bowling centre, car dealer, furniture store etc.) is located on just next to the border strip as if it appealing (showing off ) their better life to the former east side ( IV, fig.12, p.12 ) .

This condition, the void are almost merged into surrounding environments/landscape. However the urban contrast, shopping complex and multi-storyed apartments in the west and detached houses in the east, is clearly visible.

1. Water 2. Wooded Areas 3. Agriculture 4. Detached Houses 5. Urban Park 6. Memorial 7. High-Rise Tenements 8. Infrastructure 9. Federal Buildings 10. Shopping Complexes

13

The Border Condition 2

West Berlin

East Berlin

Potzdam Platz region : from Schiffahrtskanal to Zimmerstraße

This condition shows a highly complex urban context with different level of developments and its intentions for each side (East and West). Currently an equalization of the former east and west side is massively accelerated rather than the condition 1.

The north-west part of the map ( fig.13, p.16 and fig.14, p.17 ), the Berlin Central Station is located right next to the Schiffahrtskanal. Berlin Central Station is one of the most spectacular architectural projects of the city.

After undergoing eleven years of construction, the station formerly known as the Lehrter Stadtbahnhof was reopened in 2006 as the largest and most modern connecting station in Europe. ( I )

14

Around the Spree River and the Kronprinzenbrücke bridge is today dominated by extensive construction within the government quarter where located the south side of Spreebogenpark and this district was cleared to make way for Hitler's planned world capital of Germania, with the remnants destroyed in the Second World War. ( II ) The Tiergarten, Berlin's largest and most popular inner-city park, is situated in the south side of the government and diplomatic district. ( III ) The East side of the Tiergarten, along Ebert Strasse, the entire area was almost completely reorganized because the Brandenburg Gate, once a memorial to Germany's division, became a symbol of reunification after the fall of the Wall. The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin's major landmark built in 1791, had been standing for 28 years in the no-man's land and isolated from the rest of the city both the East and West. ( IV ) Close to the Brandenburg Gate, approximately 800 square meters of the no-man's land has beed replaced by the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It serving as a central place for remembering and reminding people of the Holocaust. ( V ) The Potsdamer Platz is the most striking example of the urban renewal that turned Berlin into the "New Berlin". The area today consists of the three developments known as Daimler City (1998), the Sony Centre (2000) and the Beisheim Centre (2004), which literally transformed the dormant wasteland where the Berlin Wall stood between east and west Berlin until 1989. ( VI ) The octagonal public space recognizable Leipziger Platz, just east of and adjacent to the Potsdamer Platz. Leipziger Platz was reduced to ruins during the Second World War and was once part of the no-man's land surrounding the Berlin Wall, but has since been reconstructed in its original configuration, albeit with modern architecture. ( VII ) The west side of the Potsdamer Platz named Kulturforum, with its museums, concert halls, libraries and institutes, is one of the most important cultural sites of Berlin. Many well-known and unique institutions are situated here, including the New National Gallery, designed by architect Mies van der Rohe, and the Philharmonie and Chamber Music Hall - home of the famous Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Neue Staatsbibliothek (Berlin State Library) with its sensational reading room and, last but not least, the Gemäldegalerie, which has one of the most important book collections of old masters worldwide. ( VIII )

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I

II

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V III

VII

VI

VIII ямБg.12

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I

II

IV

V

III

VII

VI

VIII ямБg.13

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Remaining Viod Space ďŹ g.14

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1. 7. 8.

1. 8. 9.

fig.15

1. 7. 8.

5. 6. 9.

fig.16

7. 9.

8. 10.

9. 10.

fig.17

19

B

The Border Condition 2: Notice

The Condition was once a place to show own authority and power to the other side. ( some architects were expecting the unification and they hoped developments to help the future urban planing ). Therefore predominant building projects were concentrated on this region with various contexts, type of buildings, river, public parks and memorials. Consequently, it is now hard to find traces of the former no-man's land. An increasing number of developments covered the former no-man's land and erased previous conflict between the east and west. The current void space where used to be called no-man's land is remained sporadically rather than the condition 1.

The contrast of the buildings and the void are very obvious. Spontaneous vegetation was totally eradicated and new developments replaced.

By comparing two conditions: 1 and 2, the contrast of these are become tangible in terms of the characters, landscape, density of the volume, typology, morphology of the immediate surrounding buildings.

The differentiation of the conditions/voids are not only an architectural nature.

In addition, this study of two conditions might revealed deepre consideration of the statement by Rem Koolhaas.

Void has a inexhaustible potential...

1. Water 2. Wooded Areas 3. Agriculture 4. Detached Houses 5. Urban Park 6. Memorial 7. High-Rise Tenements 8. Infrastructure 9. Federal Buildings 10. Shopping Complexes

20

THE SECIND VIEW POINT

fig.18

Ma - Japanese sense of 'Void' -

What is the void? #1 (P.4) This query, subconsciously contained another meaning for me, because the void that I experienced in Berlin was quite familiar (probably I experienced a similar feeling of void before), but I could not find any words at the time.

A couple of months after my first field trip to Berlin, I was heading to Tokyo in winter to have a presentation/exhibition of my fourth year work. One of the most memorable critic was Shohei Shigematsu, OMA New York.

On the way from Tokyo Narita International Airport to Shinjyuku station, one of the main stations in central Tokyo, I was looking at the reflection of myself in the train window with a mixture feelings towards my exhibition. When my train came out from the tunnel, my sight was totally blinded by mist-like white winter light.

Subsequently, it lit up a vast void with its natural theatrical effect. This void was undoubtedly nothingness but seemed pregnant with something. A few seconds

21

The rice fields in cold winter were literally nothingness after the autumn harvest, however, contrary to the nothingness, the seen invoked a feeling of the coming seasons as the fields lay waiting for planting in spring.

Instinctively, my Japanese consciousness recognized the field as beautiful Ma . Simultaneously, mysteriously... I recollected, the void in Berlin ( especially Bernauer Strasse ) . It occurred to me that perhaps there could be a feint connection that may set me on a path towards answering the original question that at this moment in time was still ambiguous to me.

This was my new discovery and also a moment that my Japanese sense of space Ma traveled to the Western country beyond the seas. Japan is a country of Ma however this idea was seldom revealed to other countries (one of the huge contribution is recognizable by Exposition MA Espace-Temps au Japon in 1978, Paris, directed by Arata Isozaki) because an acknowledgment of Ma requires deep understanding of the Japanese traditional sense of space, behavior and language. Therefore the purpose of next chapter is an interpretation of the Japanese consciousness of void called Ma by comparing a Western sense of space with a Japanese one and analyzing the deeper linguistic origin of Ma ( 間）.

22

Interpretation of Ma

Length of time depends upon our ideas. Size of space hangs upon our sentiments.

1

First of all, in order to understand Ma , it would be necessary to acknowledge how the sense of space and time, and these relations are traditionally recognized dierently in Japan and the Western world.

In the West, traditionally space is perceived by three-dimensional (length, height, depth) sense which is a static perception of space that derives from a liner perspective from where you place yourself, and observe a substantial, tangible object. So the concept of space is expressed just as a visual abstraction. Consequently, the time dimension is eliminated, another reason for this is to facilitate scientiďŹ c and mathematical calculation. In short, in the Western world, the axis of time has been detached form space.

On the other hand, traditional Japanese perception is based on their experiences that derives from their surroundings and themselves (ourself). Japanese (we) perceive themselves (ourself) as a part of a certain situation and environment. Therefore, Japanese (We) recognize space as a physical experience rather than a visual abstraction. This is a reason why the Japanese garden does not have certain view points to look at, Japanese (we) appreciate the space by being part of them, by moving through, and feeling the atmosphere rather than just observing.

From this stand point the Japanese reality is a constant ow of fusion, time and space.

23

Secondary, the meaning and structure of word (character) for time and space in Japanese need to be examined to reveal how an idea of time and space are interwoven, offering multiple perspectives other than just a linguistic point of view.

Time 時間 (ji-kan) This meaning is simply an abstract time, with no indication of length, beginning or end. The ji ( 時 ) character, which in corporates the radical for 'sun', in the left side of the character ( 日 ), describes time is perceived by movement of the sun.

Furthermore, time is expressed as 'space in flow', making time a dimension of space. Indeed, time is essential to human experience of space as it allows us to quantify our existence. (I leave an explanation of the second character ( 間 ) for my sake of this thesis.)

Space 空間 (ku-kan) The meaning of this word is an abstract space or a room, with no indication of scale. The ku ( 空 ) character describes 'a hole in universe', 'the sky', 'emptiness' in the physical space and for 'void' in Buddhist metaphysics. Interestingly, ku-kan ( 空間 ) is a descriptive word of recent origin. The word was invented to express the concept of three-dimensional objective space which was imported from Western culture. Because at that time in Japan there was not a description equivalent to Western static and unchanging space Each character alone has independent meaning, but when joined, take on a new meaning.

Unlike latin based alphabet, a sole Japanese character have multiple meanings depending on the context.

Throughout analyzing both meaning and structure of word, time ( 時間 ) and space ( 空間 ), obviously, you may realized that both words contain the same character, that is ( 間 ) called Ma ( 間 when joined with ( 空 ) ( 時 ) pronounce kan ). Now it is clearly understandable, Ma ( 間 ) penetrates into Japanese time and space, and it has a role as a connecter/mediator of both axis.

24

fig.19

Then what is the traditional and linguistic meaning and structure for Ma ( 間 )?

This examination is conducted by dividing the character ( 間 ) into two radicals, ( 門 ) and ( 日 or 月 ). 門 + 日 or 月 = 間 門 A symbol for the two of a door or gate ( think western saloon doors), especially as it indicates a great gate of a Buddhist temple. 日 or 月 Originally, in ancient times, ( 月 ) moon, was used as a radical component - instead of ( 日 ) sun - for ( 間 ) under the sign for ( 門 ). 間 Together the ideogram suggest a moment of moonlight peeping through a crack in the entrance. This character symbolizes a gateway, which alone is quite ordinary, but when combined with the symbol for moon provides a much more dramatic and meaningful impression.

In China this character has straight forward connection of space, however in Japan, the element of time is applied, since time and space are considered as one.

Through the linguistic study of Japanese characters and its components, the ambiguity of Ma ( 間 ), which include dimension of time and space, is more readily understood.

25

Perception of Ma

fig.20

Originally, Ma was adopted by Japanese Buddhist terminology to express the notion of emptiness or the void. In addition, it provided an awareness of object and space or form and non-form that transcends the visual and the material perspective. While Western consciousness of space is directly related to the comprehension of science and mathematics, the Japanese Buddhist space was never understood as a physical factor.

One of the most famous/obvious examples, to feel the Ma and Buddhism collaboration, is the rock garden at Ryoanji in Kyoto ( fig.21 ). Until today the designer of the garden is not known but the original was created in 1450.

In this garden, the objects, the natural rocks are aesthetically and perfectly/naturally arranged in space. The finely raked white sand surface fuses/invites individual objects and natural stones into one universe. The flow of energy is thrown onto every onlooker, and it derives consciousness.

26

ďŹ g.21

This 'experience' of consciousness is the 'experience' of the 'void', of 'nothingness', of 'emptiness'. It is therefore not a philosophical or aesthetic concept, but a notion derived from personal experience, a notion both beside and beyond the experience of our physical world

2

In order to understand the Japanese void, nothingness and emptiness, people need to experience it and then the sense of experience is to grasp Ma .

So the Japanese sense of Ma is not something that is created by compositional elements. Instead, the imagination of the human who experiences these elements in space.

27

The Void in Berlin

fig.22

The only consistency that exists within cities is that they are constantly changing. Berlin's city-text has been written, erased and rewritten throughout the violent 20th century. Consequently Berlin has become a city with many voids.

Interestingly the situation and life with the void was already described in the mid 1930's by Ernst Bloch, the marxist philosopher, as function in the void .

Precisely he phrased Funktionen im Hohlraum (function in a hollow space) which is about the vacuum left by the collapse of a nineteenth-century bourgeois culture that had found its spatial expression in the heavy, dignified, and ornamental architecture in Berlin. Subsequently, the vacuum was filled by a functionalisim post World War I. However a decade later, as a result of the traumatic fascist control, Berlin transformed into the literal void in 1945. This void did not stop then; rather it continued through the 1950s in urban renewal, the old Berlin was razed to the ground to create space for new development projects.

28

A little over a decade later, the significant construction project of the twentyeth century, the Wall, required another void in the centre of the city, a no-man's land that wounded more than 100 East Berliners. During the Cold War, all of West Berlin itself appeared as a void on Eastern European maps. In 1989, when the wall came down, people had to experience the exposed void, 17 acres of nothingness extending from the Brandenburg Gate down to Potsdamer Platz and Leipziger Platz. Berliners called the void affectionately prairie of history but this void was saturated with the pathological memory of invisible past narratives.

The history and trajectory of the void in Berlin brought me to an assumption; perhaps people and their image of Berlin have had different understandings of a void space when compared to other European cities, that the interpretation of void space is possibly close to Ma .

Alongside the modern history of Berlin, the void has never disappeared and is ever constant. Even if the scale and meaning are different from previous void forms, the void has remained in Berlin since its inception after the revolution of 1848.

In contrast, other Western cultures did not allow (hesitated) voids within their cities, they filled voids with new objects/buildings as soon as one appeared. In the case of Berlin, an unparalleled process of urban demolition and re-development of a cyclical nature was created.

Brian Ladd, a fellow of the American Academy in Berlin, described the city in his book Berlin is fascinating, rather, as a city of bold gesture and startling incongruities, of ferment and destruction. It is a city whose buildings, ruins, and voids groan under the burden of painful memories.

3

So the notion of void in Berlin is more than a metaphor, not just a temporary condition but exists within the urban movement and change, in other words continuous, permanent phenomena.

This acknowledgement of the historical background of the city and its void affirmed and accelerated my view to observe the current void in Berlin as Ma . There were something behind the void...

29

Elements of Ma in Berlin

1

2

3

4

5

Bernauer Strasse:

Ma - like phenomena fig.23

My impression of the void as Ma in Berlin is mostly concentrated on Bernauer Strasse. (because coincidentally, my first destination of field trip was this street and so I had genuine surprise introduction to the void)

30

fig.24

When I first viewed the entire void from a street view (outside of the grassy memorial fields), apparently it was a well treated garden (sculpture park?) with sporadic objects which induce realization of space between objects, and also marginal silence that provides the harmonious simplicity of the arrangement space: a cushioning between the busy street and a calm residential district (comfortable distance from the main street), and also brightness (I felt the sky is bigger) made me look upon the void differently when compared with other voids I had experienced. Simultaneously, I found the subtle graphical border line between grassy field (void) and the asphalt pavement where I was standing. The line which is made by ground texture was visually suggesting a perimeter of the void. There was a constant movement of space, a gentle shifting, from street to void and from void to street, creates a fluid unity, like the Japanese garden concept. The overall differentiation of all these complex components, such as objects, vastness, ground textures and silence of the void merges into a single unity. It achieves an aesthetic that is simple and neutral but functional in the spiritual sense.

31

I noticed that when people feel a Ma -like phenomena, they required some atmospheric elements like brightness, darkness, silence and noise to evoke the sense of Ma . In addition the dierent textures of grounds such as soil, grass, pebbles and asphalt suggested to me the subtle border line of the void without needing a physical boundary e.g. a wall or fence. From these my own ďŹ ndings, I categorized them into 5 elements called Ma Generators.

Bernauer Strasse: Ma - Generators

1

2

3

4

32

Decays

meaning of this nothingness .

Reminiscent Objects

contrast or framing, our focus is directed towards the clear space and the

Expression of the time of the space

Flatness

Ground Textures

Gently treated ground surface

Isolated Objects

Isolated Objects

Light & Silence

Reminiscent Objects

Expression of the time of the space

Ground Textures

Subtle Graphical Border

a Perimeter of the void

We are made aware of Ma through contrasting elements, and through this

5

SUMMARY

I am aiming that this thesis will be a witness to the narrative of nothingness in Berlin.

Throughout this study, one of the significant messages is that people are forced to obtain a certain bias toward the Wall and void. Implanted biases can make many blind to alternative narratives and perspectives.

What I conducted through this thesis is operation of observer's sight by dissection of the border area and utilizing the notion of Ma .

What the void offers is the possibility for deeper questioning and discoveries, bypassing the need for human quantification, such as is this space productive or is this space efficiently used etc.. Ma is an aesthetic aggregation, and also a poetic transmitter of the intangible/ephemeral; as light, noise, season, texture and atmosphere by contrast.

Ma in Berlin provides a space within which our imaginations would run free and it is an ephemeral object, In addition, from the historical research, Ma is an expression of latent possibility and inseparably connected to the urban tissue in Berlin.

By subdividing the border area, the actuality and individual relationship beyond the void are revealed. It was part of a proof of the statement by Rem Koolhaas.

The flexibility of the void/ Ma represents its ability of detachment and connection to urban tissue.

Ma is not officially or definitely occupied. It allows to embrace any programatic code.

I found that the void in Berlin is the embodiment Ma

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOK 1. translated from Saikontan ( 菜根譚 ) 2. Gunter Nitschke, From Shinto to Ando: Studies in Architectural Anthropology in Japan, p 59 3. Brian Ladd, The Ghosts of Berlin ‒ confronting german history in the urban landscape -, 1997, Published Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press - Kunsthalle Bern, Voids.: a retrospective, 2009, Published Zurich: Letzigrapen - Ungers, O. M. (Oswald Mathias); Koolhaas, Rem; Marot, Sébastien, The city in the city: Berlin: a green archipelago, 2012, Published Baden: Lars Müller - Ponciroli, Virginia; Isozaki, Arata, Katsura: imperial villa, 2005, Published Milan: Electaarchitecture - Jonas, Marieluise, author; Rahmann, Heike, Tokyo void: possibilities in absence 2014, Berlin: Jovis - Braun, Markus Sebastian; Haubrich, Rainer, Berlin: the architecture guide, 2011, Published [Salenstein]: Braun - Isozaki, Arata; Stewart, David B, Japan-ness in architecture, 2011, Published Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT - Elkins, T. H (Thomas Henry); Hofmeister, B (Burkhard), Berlin: the spatial structure of a divided city, 1988, Published London: Methuen - Smith, Michael C. A, Nothingness and art, 2010, Published Glasgow: Glasgow School of Art - Axek Klausmeier, Leo Schmidt, Wall Remnants - Wall Traces, 2004, Published Westkreuz-Verlag - Ryser, Judith; Goethe-Institut, Germany in transition: new strategies of urban development - Berlin - London, 1991, Published London: Goethe-Institut - Ettinger, Bracha L; Pollock, Griselda, The matrixial borderspace, 2006, Published Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press - Rave, Paul Ortwin, Berlin in der Geschichte seiner Bauten, 1960, Published Munchen: Deutscher Kunstverlag - Gargiani, Roberto; Koolhaas, Rem; Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rem Koolhaas, 2008, Published Oxford: Routledge - Sartre, Jean-Paul, Being and nothingness: an essay on phenomenological ontology, 2003, Published London; New York: Routledge

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEBSITE - The Place: from FORM to inFORMation -laboratories of urban planning: Bucharest and Berlinhttp://www.isocarp.net/Data/case_studies/cases/cs01_6786/isocarp_paper_f.htm - Landscapes of the Green Line of Cyprus: Healing the Rift, by Dr. Anna Grichting http://www.nakedpunch.com/articles/73 - Life in the death strip http://www.worldmag.com/2014/10/life_in_the_death_strip - Urban Development and the Environment http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/index_en.shtml - The Berlin Wall is No Longer an Object https://www.academia.edu/9184609/The_Berlin_Wall_is_No_Longer_an_Object - Book excerpt II- The voids of the Berlin Wall https://waua.wordpress.com - Architecture and Nothingness, Yale School of Architecture http://architecture.yale.edu/gallery/architecture-and-nothingness - An Archaeology of the Iron Curtain - Simple search http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:680598/FULLTEXT01.pdf - The Voids of Berlin Author(s): Andreas Huyssen http://www.creeca.wisc.edu/outreach/readings/Ch2-2Imbrigotta%20huyssen.voids .pdf - The Potential of Nothing, Short Essay by Lawrence Abrahamson http://www.mascontext.com/tag/lawrence-abrahamson/ - When Less is More: Concept of Japanese "MA" https://wawaza.com/pages/when-less-is-more-the-concept-of-japanese-ma.html - MA: THE CONCEPT OF IN-BETWEEN: PART 1 http://kaisyngtan.com/3rdlifekaidie/2009/12/in-between-1/ - MA The Japanese Spatial Expression http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/V3613/ma/ - MA PLACE, SPACE, VOID, KYOTO JOURNAL http://www.kyotojournal.org/the-journal/culture-arts/ma-place-space-void/

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NOTE

PICYURES

fig.1

Void space, Cuvrystraße 50, Berlin

fig.2

Bernauer Strasse

fig.3

Decay: The Wall

fig.4

The Buffer Zone/The Void of The City

fig.5

The Void: West Berlin

fig.6

Map: Lübars 1989

fig.7

Map: Lübars 2010

fig.8

Map: Lübars: Remaining Viod Space

fig.9

Map: Lübars: Immediate Condtion 1

fig.10 Map: Lübars: Immediate Condtion 2 fig.11 Map: Lübars: Immediate Condtion 3 fig.12 Map: Potzdam Platz region : from Schiffahrtskanal to ZimmerstraßeLübars 1989 fig.13 Map: Potzdam Platz region : from Schiffahrtskanal to ZimmerstraßeLübars 2010 fig.14 Map: Potzdam Platz region : from Schiffahrtskanal to ZimmerstraßeLübars: Remaining Viod Space fig.15 Map: Potzdam Platz region : from Schiffahrtskanal to ZimmerstraßeLübars: Immediate Condition 1 fig.16 Map: Potzdam Platz region : from Schiffahrtskanal to ZimmerstraßeLübars: Immediate Condition 2 fig.17 Map: Potzdam Platz region : from Schiffahrtskanal to ZimmerstraßeLübars: Immediate Condition 3 fig.18 Rice Field in Japan, December 2014 fig.19 間 Ma fig.20 The Rock Garden at Ryoanji in Kyoto fig.21 Katsura Imperial Villa fig.22 Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin, 1945 fig.23 Map: Bernauer Strasse: The Location of Ma Generators fig.24 Bernauer Strasse

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Shotaro Oshima

Shotaro Oshima, originally hailing from Tokyo. Shotaro attended Tama Art University where he got his Bachelor Degree in Architecture in 2013. After the graduation, he relocated to Glasgow to do Diploma (part2) and Master in Architecture at Glasgow School of Art. He dedicates himself to creating delicate and phenomenal spatial experiences with Japanese sophistication.

His project ranginf from photograph to urban planing but each project focusing on subtle changes within daily events.

4/8, 460 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. G2 3JU oshimashotaro@gmail.com +44 7 769 508586

MA/VOID Interpretation of the Void in Berlin