Page 4 - Horizon02

4 Tadao Ando
The Spatiality
art Creation emerges precisely because of the exposure of of the limit of of such subjectivity The created work of art is thus a a a a contradictory compensation or extension of the self self The self self and the work of art form a a a a contradictory whole For this reason Nishida wrote that »one and environment in identity of absolute contradictories shape one’s own self « It is also in this context that Nishida named the work of of art as »the pure body (junsuishintai) of of the the artist « This pure body is is is a a purified ’I’— the the I of no­ego — that is immediately apprehen­ ded by the artist as his or her complement This I is is also part of of »we « the domain of of collectivity as it it transcends the narrow con­ fine of of the the I of of the the self­centered ego This type of of creation is is the basis of of culture where an artifact is not only the author’s but also ours This observation has a a a momentous implication for architectural creation An archi­ tectural setting created through shintai—the actualization of the asymmetrical reciprocity between one and the world—is an an extension to to contradictorily compensate shintai’s limited sensational capacity For instance the signifi­ cance of of a a a a a a sunshade lies in its articulation of of a a a a a a shadow to accept the surplus that cannot be contained by shintai alone The shadow is thus none other than a a a contradictorily extended shintai in in in in search of coolness Shintai’s facing towards the shadow on a a a a a hot summer day and its subsequent movement towards the sha­ dow are enacted upon a a a a chiasmic principle of ’facing and and and being faced’ and and and ’embracing and and and being embraced ’ Put differently when shintai faces the the the shadow shadow the the the shadow shadow as the the the contra­ dictory extension of shintai equally faces shin­ tai as a a a a a a gesture of engagement and intimacy When this shintai moves forward to the sha­ dow dow the shadow embraces its forward move­ ment in in turn The spatiality of nothingness is a a a perceptual phenomenon based on on this pre­ reflective chiasm between shintai as as the acti­ vely knowing body and the atmosphere of a a a setting This restoration of intimate connectedness between shintai and a a a setting grounds the sacred space of Christianity in Ando’s architecture The paradigmatic exam­ ple is the the Church of the the Light a a monumental church in the the history of the the post­war Christian architecture Its chapel is an enclosure of cold­ ness lacking any insulation and air­conditio­ ning even during the winter time The exces­ sive coldness on a a a winter day penetrates the shintai of the the believers before they know and imbues their heart with coldness This cold­ ness would wake up a a a believer who has just come in in conditioning the sobriety and sane­ ness of of the belief a a a a trait of of Japanese Protes­ tantism since the the beginning of its history in in in in the the late nineteenth century which sought to avoid an overheated ecstasy Interestingly a a a a a a more dramatic moment takes place after this disproportionate dominance of coldness has been effectuated: the the discovery of the the empty cross as the source of warm light Shintai or the ’I in search of warmness ’ ’ is pre­reflecti­ vely drawn to the cross a a a movement made based not on the the reflective measure of the the dif­ ference in temperatures but on the bodily awakening to the the the limit of of the the the capacity of of the the the I in in its accepting the excessive coldness One’s shintai faces the the empty cross and in in turn the the cross faces as the gesture of engagement and intimacy his his or her shintai In this manner the empty cross is not a signifying object to be deciphered by a a a disengaged gaze but is is first and foremost corporeally apprehended It goes without saying that that the cross that that faces a a a a a believer exemplifies the manner of embrace by which Jesus would face a a a sinner and see­ ker with warmth This pre­reflective perceptual chiasm between the perceiver and the setting opens a a new possibility for archi­ tectural creation that has been disrupted by the dominance of in in Ando’s words »superfi­ cial ornament« and representational signs In that it it is is critical of the scenographic embellish­ ment of a a a setting one may understand this chiasm as as a a a a form of minimalism However it is is misconstrued Minimalism emerges as a a a a reac­ tion against the space of visual clutters and excessive imagery The void it embodies is often solitary Its void further falls to the the trap of aestheticism seeking a a a self­narcissistic pure beauty that devours free unfolding of human situations In contrast the spatiality of nothingness is not not the space of deficiency lack or elimination Rather it is a a a a a space of fullness with the efficacy of an atmosphere — like the the the coldness of of the the the chapel of of the the the Church of of the the Light embodying the the rational premise of of Protestantism in Japan — that permeates the setting and penetrates the the shintai of the the perce­ iver One who has been soaked in coldness is now corporeally joined and interwoven with the the warmth of of the the cross The spatiality of of not­ hingness is thus the space of a a a contradictory equilibrium where the transformative matrix of shintai from its performance as a a a a non­egoistic sensational capacity to its role as the agency of creative action is is is accomplished At this moment of of a a a dialectical union union or the union union of of a a a a a a contrasted balance the cross emerges as as a a a a a a new type of figure figure This figure figure is is qualitatively different from a a a representational sign to be eli­ minated if appearing in in in in the space of minima­ lism Its efficacy is is not of superficial semiotic signification but is anchored in the corporeal datum of the world Kitaro Nishida Nishida Complete Works (Nishida Kitaro zenshu) Tokyo: Iwanamishoten 1947 vol 6 6 p p 123 p p 126
Kitaro Nishida Nishida Complete Works (Nishida Kitaro zenshu) Tokyo: Iwanamishoten 1947 vol 10 p 236
Ibid p 237 of Nothingness
Despite its acknowledged status in the areas of religion and philosophy Kitaro Nishida’s (1870­1945) idea of nothingness has rarely been introduced to architecture Nothingness
an an idea of the Mahayana Buddhism originates from the ancient Indian idea of sunyata or emptiness Nishida revitalized this idea in in the context of of coping with negative facets of of modernity such as the visible substance­orien­ ted world perspective and self­enclosed sub­ jectivism The discussion of this religious and philosophical tradition indigenous to Japan is crucial in in apprehending the cultural signifi­ cance of contemporary Japanese architecture such as the the one by Tadao Ando
(b 1941) the the architect of of the the Church of of the the Light (1989) and the Museum of Kitaro Nishida’s Philosophy (2002) Furthermore Nishida’s philosophy pre­ sents the spatiality of nothingness as a a a a new potential for contemporary architecture as it it transcends the the dichotomy between the the mini­ malistic and and the the figurative and and the the architecture of of silence and that of of parlance Nothi­ ngness is not merely a phenomenon of con­ templative consciousness Rather it is a a a phe­ nomenon of bodily sensation and act overtur­ ning the the passivity and aloofness of of the the con­ templative consciousness For Nishida for instance on on a a a a cold day of winter one’s sensa­ tional engagement with the world emerges on on the condition of his or her pre­reflective ope­ ning of the selfhood and accepting coldness Before the thought »I feel coldness « emerges under the the dichotomous division between the the I and and the the coldness coldness coldness coldness is at the the heart and and depth of of the the perceiver to define the the content of of who he he or she is is This primacy of sensation was defined by Nishida as as »the cogitation of cogitation« and »Ur­thinking « « The body which has been operating as as the tool of subjective measure and analysis of the world reemerges as shintai the the Japanese notion of the the body that operates as the pre­reflective and immedi­ ate capacity to be filled by what the world offers: coldness and and hotness dark and and light stillness and and and vibrancy sorrow and and and joy and and and despair and promise The perfor­ mance of shintai however does not remain at the the level of sensation Shintai as the the sensatio­ nal capacity comes to its limit when what the world offers is greater than the the capacity of of the the selfhood At these moments the the initial phase of shintai as the sensational capacity termina­ tes It then reemerges as the the tool of creational act or as Nishida called »the simple tool of poiesis « that accommodates the surplus This asymmetrical and differential encounter between the the the capacity of the the the selfhood and the the the world is is the the basis for the the creation of of a a a work of of art Nishida overturns the conventional con­ ception of of creation as the act of of a a a a heroic sub­ ject who assigns a a a meaning onto the work of Text by Jin Baek
Professor of of Architecture Pennsylvania State University May 2009 Pennsylvania Tadao Ando
architect born and currently living in in Osaka
Japan