Michael Lazarin | Ryukoku University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Michael Lazarin
Journal of Ryukoku University, Jul 30, 2008
Journal of Ryukoku University, Jun 1, 1995
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Jun 1, 2008
A constant theme of modern Japanese architects is that Western architecture resists impermanence ... more A constant theme of modern Japanese architects is that Western architecture resists impermanence and aims to make buildings last as long as possible. On the other hand, Japanese architectural excellence is measured by a sense of fragility and ruination. Ironically, from a Japanese perspective, the will to permanence is what leads one to disaster. Ando Tadao (1941-) writes in Beyond Architecture: Architecture is intimately involved with time. Standing amid time's continual flow, architecture simultaneously experiences the receding past and the arriving future. 1 Kurokawa Kisho (1934-2007) describes the temporal dimension of Asian architecture with the slogan: 'Oriental cities have no squares or plazas while Western cities possess no streets'. The street has no clearly defined spatial function, but within the twenty-four hours of the day, it is at times used for private and at times for public activities. In that sense it is space without substance, space with many overlapping complex meanings. In the same way that sunyata is completely invisible yet possesses profound and dense meaning, so too is this 'street space' replete with meaning. 2 Sunyata is the Buddhist idea that ultimate reality is impermanence and lack of substantial identity. It is usually translated into English as 'emptiness' or 'void'; in Japanese, it is translated by kû which is also the word for sky. In 1978, Isozaki Arata (1931-) organised an installation in Paris called 'Ma: Space-Time in Japan,' which was repeated the next year at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York. According to an article by Ono Susumu in the Iwanami Dictionary of Ancient Terms, 'ma' is 'the natural distance between two things existing in a continuity'. 3 But the same article also says the term means (1) a break or gap between things and (2) a pause or rest in a temporal succession. Ma is usually translated into English as 'interval' (literally, 'between the ramparts'), because this word equally applies expressions of space and time, but it fails to capture the Japanese sense of the unity of space-time. Isozaki himself usually uses the English word 'interstices' (literally 'standing in-betweeen') because of its more positive connotation, but mindful of the Japanese connotations of 'break' and 'gap', he also uses the terms 'ruin' and 'rubble'. In common usage, it is the standard span between two pillars and the unpainted space of a brush-painting. It is a moment of silence in music and the pause before two swordsmen strike at each other. When for Paris I proposed curating a show about the concept of ma, my concerns were various. … I wanted to look into the deeper linguistic origins and later ramifications of ma-how the notion had been grafted onto both time and space when these elemental Western concepts arrived in Japan in the brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by TU Delft Open Access Journals
龍谷大学国際社会文化研究所紀要, Jun 1, 2008
竜谷大学仏教文化研究所紀要, Nov 1, 1996
An anthology of Japanese, German and American philosophers on the topic of time and .nothingness
龍谷大学国際社会文化研究所紀要, May 31, 2007
In memoriam Tadashi OGAWA Hiroshi KOJIMA died on September 23rd of this year, 2006. As one of the... more In memoriam Tadashi OGAWA Hiroshi KOJIMA died on September 23rd of this year, 2006. As one of the founders of the Japanese Phenomenological Association, he established a relationship with the American phenomenological world. He was acquainted with famous American
Journal of organization and discourse, 2020
Contributions to phenomenology, 1993
In Asia, illusion is tolerated and sometimes praised as a component of experience and reality. In... more In Asia, illusion is tolerated and sometimes praised as a component of experience and reality. In contrast, the Western idealist tradition has attempted to expunge illusion through thinking in accordance with first principles. However, with Kant’s Critical philosophy, we now know that transcendental illusion is a necessary feature of experience generated by principled thinking itself With thinkers such as Nietzsche and Heidegger, tranditional ideals such as clarity and light are suffused with the indigo tones of minesis and epoche. Only by embracing the transitory shadow-world of time can one come to a decision (Lichtung) about the origin and authority of metaphysical principles.
Journal of Ryukoku University, Jul 30, 2008
Journal of Ryukoku University, Jun 1, 1995
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Jun 1, 2008
A constant theme of modern Japanese architects is that Western architecture resists impermanence ... more A constant theme of modern Japanese architects is that Western architecture resists impermanence and aims to make buildings last as long as possible. On the other hand, Japanese architectural excellence is measured by a sense of fragility and ruination. Ironically, from a Japanese perspective, the will to permanence is what leads one to disaster. Ando Tadao (1941-) writes in Beyond Architecture: Architecture is intimately involved with time. Standing amid time's continual flow, architecture simultaneously experiences the receding past and the arriving future. 1 Kurokawa Kisho (1934-2007) describes the temporal dimension of Asian architecture with the slogan: 'Oriental cities have no squares or plazas while Western cities possess no streets'. The street has no clearly defined spatial function, but within the twenty-four hours of the day, it is at times used for private and at times for public activities. In that sense it is space without substance, space with many overlapping complex meanings. In the same way that sunyata is completely invisible yet possesses profound and dense meaning, so too is this 'street space' replete with meaning. 2 Sunyata is the Buddhist idea that ultimate reality is impermanence and lack of substantial identity. It is usually translated into English as 'emptiness' or 'void'; in Japanese, it is translated by kû which is also the word for sky. In 1978, Isozaki Arata (1931-) organised an installation in Paris called 'Ma: Space-Time in Japan,' which was repeated the next year at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York. According to an article by Ono Susumu in the Iwanami Dictionary of Ancient Terms, 'ma' is 'the natural distance between two things existing in a continuity'. 3 But the same article also says the term means (1) a break or gap between things and (2) a pause or rest in a temporal succession. Ma is usually translated into English as 'interval' (literally, 'between the ramparts'), because this word equally applies expressions of space and time, but it fails to capture the Japanese sense of the unity of space-time. Isozaki himself usually uses the English word 'interstices' (literally 'standing in-betweeen') because of its more positive connotation, but mindful of the Japanese connotations of 'break' and 'gap', he also uses the terms 'ruin' and 'rubble'. In common usage, it is the standard span between two pillars and the unpainted space of a brush-painting. It is a moment of silence in music and the pause before two swordsmen strike at each other. When for Paris I proposed curating a show about the concept of ma, my concerns were various. … I wanted to look into the deeper linguistic origins and later ramifications of ma-how the notion had been grafted onto both time and space when these elemental Western concepts arrived in Japan in the brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by TU Delft Open Access Journals
龍谷大学国際社会文化研究所紀要, Jun 1, 2008
竜谷大学仏教文化研究所紀要, Nov 1, 1996
An anthology of Japanese, German and American philosophers on the topic of time and .nothingness
龍谷大学国際社会文化研究所紀要, May 31, 2007
In memoriam Tadashi OGAWA Hiroshi KOJIMA died on September 23rd of this year, 2006. As one of the... more In memoriam Tadashi OGAWA Hiroshi KOJIMA died on September 23rd of this year, 2006. As one of the founders of the Japanese Phenomenological Association, he established a relationship with the American phenomenological world. He was acquainted with famous American
Journal of organization and discourse, 2020
Contributions to phenomenology, 1993
In Asia, illusion is tolerated and sometimes praised as a component of experience and reality. In... more In Asia, illusion is tolerated and sometimes praised as a component of experience and reality. In contrast, the Western idealist tradition has attempted to expunge illusion through thinking in accordance with first principles. However, with Kant’s Critical philosophy, we now know that transcendental illusion is a necessary feature of experience generated by principled thinking itself With thinkers such as Nietzsche and Heidegger, tranditional ideals such as clarity and light are suffused with the indigo tones of minesis and epoche. Only by embracing the transitory shadow-world of time can one come to a decision (Lichtung) about the origin and authority of metaphysical principles.