In conclusion, this research shows how cultivating an awareness of 間 (Ma) can consciously transform design practice and pedagogy. Through iterative design, we developed spatial and performative techniques that support attunement, vitalization, and the situated experience of 間 (Ma).

 

The Attuned Architect: Sensorial Intelligence
Iterating on the work of Min Tanaka, we developed a movement practice for architects to attune to their environments. This involves sensorial exercises like listening, moving, and breathing with the environment. For example, traditional site analysis focuses on mapping historical, social, and material aspects of a place. The attuned architect adds an intensive mapping to capture the sensory experiences and environmental change and movement of the site.

 

At first, this movement practice may seem unusual to a conventional design studio. Activities like “listening to bricks” or “moving with trees” might sound odd, even irrational. But through meditative movement, architects can develop greater sensitivity and a deeper, more empathic connection to their surroundings. This practice then shifts how we inhabit the world. Through this embodied design approach an extended sensibility and relational intelligence unfolds for the dynamic, reciprocal relationships between people and their environments that in turn enables a more responsive, climate just design approach.  

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Vital Architecture: Spatial Dynamics
Drawing from our iterations on the Teigyokuken teahouse, we developed a set of dynamic architectural procedures aimed at vitalizing the relationship between people and their environments. These methods include adaptable spatial interventions like zigzagging, rotating, and flattening. At first glance, these may seem overly simple. Is a zigzag, as common in Japanese architecture of the Edo Period, really so different from a straight line, as found in dominant in Greek, Renaissance, Chinees and Modern spatial arrangements?  Can such seemingly minor spatial shifts affect how we relate to the earth? Through experimental and embodied research, we argue that they can.

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In the architectural practice of 間 (Ma), zigzagging appears in Z-shaped interior connections or the stepping-stone paths leading to (teahouse) entrances. Rotating is evident in floor plans that physical turning to comprehend, or in elements like lowered windows and crawl-through doors that compel the body to bend and reorient.  Flattening emerges through the layering of horizontal planes as seen in traditional Japanese drawings and compact teahouse interiors. These spatial forms are inherently dynamic, evolving over time as sliding walls and window frames adjust with the hour of the day or the season of the year.

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Such interventions create embodied experiences that reshape how we move, sense, and connect with our surroundings. Because of their unbalancing and adaptable nature, they activate a dynamic equilibrium—a continual rebalancing between our physical, social, and even cosmic orientations. For instance, walking along a zigzagging, uneven path or adjusting windows to align with seasonal changes engages the body in a double gesture: inwardly seeking balance, and outwardly aligning with the gravitational pull of the earth, the orbit of the sun, and shifting horizons.

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Zigzagging, rotating and flattening thus remind us that we do not merely inhabit space—we actively shape it in relation to the environment. In doing so, we awaken our agency and deepen our sense of ecological belonging. This shifts our understanding of architecture from a static form to a transformative, vital practice. While practicing 間 (Ma), architecture becomes a way of synchronizing our personal rhythms with those of the earth, further enabling more responsive and climate-just design approaches.

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Situated Process: Collaboration and Co-Creation    
Through ongoing iterations of the complete exhibition, we reframed the design process through the lens of 間 (Ma). The spatial and performative techniques of attunement and vitalization should not be interpreted as rigid design principles or prescriptive instructions. Rather than relying on formulaic approaches or mindless imitation, a 間 (Ma)- informed practice embraces dynamic, playful, and in-situ experimentation. As architect Jun Akio explains in relation to his installation at the Venice Architecture Biennale, 間 (Ma) challenges the binary notion that environments are either fully controllable or entirely beyond human influence. Instead, it introduces a space of mutual exchange—where one does not act as a passive observer or dominant creator, but as a participant engaged in compassionate dialogues.

 

This perspective reorients the design process away from the conventional focus on future-oriented plans, competition, and rivalry, toward a more situated and collaborative approach rooted in the open present. This enactive, in-situ mode of working marks a shift away from the archetype of the solitary genius behind the drawing board. Encouragingly, this is not an abstract ideal: it is already emerging in practices such as building with donor structures and engaging in participatory design processes that honor the vitality of existing environments and communities. To support this shift, we developed a set of in-situ, collaborative working methods to be added to conventional design processes, including formats for generous, sensorial and performative co-creation.