Aoki, Japan Pavilion: In-Between
The Japan Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, explores the architectural intelligence required for the future under the theme of “In-Between.”
We often perceive our environment as something to be manipulated—a view that may lie at the root of the climate crisis. While advancing technology is essential, innovation alone cannot fully address the issue, nor is rejecting technology for a return to nature a viable solution.
What we need is a third form of “Intelligens”—one that avoids the extremes of control and helplessness, and rejects the binary view that the environment is either fully controllable or entirely beyond influence.
Manipulation implies a split between subject and object. To challenge this, we begin with a thought experiment: to imagine a horizon where such divisions dissolve.
In Japanese culture, the concept of ma, meaning “in-between time/space,” offers an alternative. More than empty space, ma is a dynamic tension between entities, forming a void-like subjectivity that exists neither within the human nor the external world, but in-between.
This in-between is a space of mutual exchange, where boundaries between human and non-human, nature and artifact blur. Here, one participates not as master or observer, but as part of a dialogue.
To explore this idea, we turn to the architecture of the Japan Pavilion, imagining a near-future where its elements—Hole, Wall Columns, Outer Walls, Brick Terrace, Pensilina, Tilted Loop Path, and Yew Tree—interact and exchange information. Humans join as equal participants in an evolving conversation enabled by AI, pointing toward new forms of coexistence. (Jun Aoki)
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