Intervals of Void: Japanese Spatial-Temporal Concepts in the Architecture of Ryūe Nishizawa

This paper examines the transformation of the concept of void in the architecture of Ryūe Nishizawa through the concepts of ma and utsu in Japanese spatial discourse. While ma has often been understood as an interval or a relational condition connecting time and space, this study examines utsu as a condition of emptiness understood not as absence but as an environmental and perceptual substance. The paper traces the philosophical development of ma through twentieth-century Japanese thought and Arata Isozaki’s 1978 exhibition Ma: Space-Time in Japan, then examines the 2024–2025 revival of the Ma exhibitions in Tabriz and Tehran, focusing on Nishizawa’s installations and their interpretations of utsu, utsuroi, utsuwa, and utsushi—void, transience, receptivity, and transference. It also considers niwa as an architectural archetype through which ma and utsu can be understood spatially. Through analysis of the Teshima Art Museum, Fukita Pavilion, Moriyama House, and Shishi-Iwa House No. 3, the paper interprets utsu as an active condition of spatial experience.