2010
Nr 2(28)
Intellectual discourse within the framework of so-
cial sciences at the end of the 20
th
century and at the
beginning of the 21
st
century was dominated by theo-
retical analyses of a threefold turn which formulated
and at the same time determined the reality of the con-
temporary societies: 1) cultural turn commenced by
M. Foucault, continued adequately to the technological
development of the contemporary cultures and civiliza-
tions based on the interpretation of history by F. Fuku-
yama and S.P. Huntington
1
; 2) technological turn with
analyses of social changes caused by the new media tech-
nologies (M. McLuhan) and information technologies
(M. Castells); 3) spatial turn, the forerunner of which is
H. Lefebvre with a new concept of space in the social
dimension.
The very term of spatial turn appeared for the rst
time in the study by the geographer Edward W. Soja
entitled Postmodern geographies published in 1989
2
.
[3, 18] However, in the social dimension, the forerun-
*
Wrocław University of Technology, Department of Humanistic
Sciences.
1
Cf. Foucault M., Von anderen Räumen, [in:] Dünne, J. / Günzel, S.,
Raumtheorie. Grundlagentexte aus Philosophie und Kulturwissenschaf-
ten, p. 317–329, Frankfurt a. M. 2006; Fukuyama, F., Koniec historii,
Znak, Kraków 2009; Huntington, S.P., Zderzenie cywilizacji i nowy kształt
ładu światowego, Muza, Warszawa 2003.
2
Edward W. Soja, Postmodern Geographies. The Reassertion of
Space in Critical Social Theory, London/NY 1989. In the recent years two
comprehensive studies of the whole issue of the spatial turn in the modern
science were published: Döring, Jörg/Thielmann, Tristan (Hrsg.), Spatial
turn. Das Raumparadigma in den Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaften,
transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2008; Warf, Barney/Arias, Santa (eds.), The
Spatial Turn: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Routledge Studies in Human
Geography, London 2009.
ner of the new meaning, understanding and interpreta-
tion of space is Henri Lefebvre. In his study entitled
La production de l’espace published in 1974 (Produc-
tion of space) he presented an interdisciplinary concept
of space at the same time introducing anew the notion
of space as a motif of the intellectual discourse within
the framework of social sciences. The paradigm of the
term itself is often referred to in the context of the con-
troversies and disputes on modernism and postmodern-
ism. From the postmodernist viewpoint, Fredric Jameson
states that the spatial turn paradigm, or even more a whole
series of turns as its variations, enables us to unambigu-
ously dene differences existing between modernism
and postmodernism and at the same time it functions as
one of the main motifs of the postmodernist criticism of
modernism
3
.
According to Jameson, modernism emphasizes the
meaning of time and history whereas postmodernism led
to spatialization of the temporal. The notion of spatiali-
zation of the temporal means a simultaneous trend away
from the 19
th
century obsession of history towards a new
era of space (M. Foucault). E.W. Soja in his later works
such as Thirdspace published in 1996 refers to this mean-
ing of spatial turn where he denes it as a type of master
turn, therefore, we arrive at the main paradigm of science
of the end of the 20
th
century – paradigm of transdiscipli-
3
(...) A certain spatial turn has often seemed to offer one of the
more productive ways of distinguishing postmodernism from modernism
proper (...), F. Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late
Capitalism, p. 154, Durham 1991; (quoted after:) Döring J., Thielmann T.
(Hrsg.), Spatial turn. Das Raumparadigma in den Kultur- und Sozial-
wissenschaften, p. 8.
Tomasz Stępień*
Spatial turn.
Transcultural and transdisciplinar spaces
in the architecture
Preliminaries.
Spatial turn as a social science paradigm
204 Tomasz Stępień
nar character as such
4
. In this way, ‘space’ becomes the
main component of the critical social theory [3].
Nowadays, the emphasis is put on the multidimen-
sionality of the meaning of ‘spatial turn’, which expresses
both its transdisciplinar character, i.e. may refer to every
discipline of knowledge or science as such as well as its
transcultural character, i.e. may occur and be valid inde-
pendently of place and time in the impingement sphere of
a given culture-civilization. In this context, spatial turn
is strongly connected with the technological develop-
ment of the second part of the 20
th
century. It refers to the
new information technologies which are interpreted as an
omen, expression and at the same time the main tool of
the globalization process. Spatial and technological turns
mean a new perception of the human reality, either in
form of a global village (M. McLuhan) and a web society
(M. Castells), or mobility as the main phenomenon of the
modern society (J. Urry). The leading motif of spatial turn
itself involves the far-reaching changes brought about by
the media and communication technologies.
The phenomenon of spatial turn itself is not explicitly
dened – we can say that it refers to the disputes which take
place within the particular domains by making reference
to space. We can observe a sort of prosperity for ‘space’
as each discipline (eld of study) of broadly understood
humanities undertakes a different ‘spatial turn’ by shift-
ing research emphasis, by change of perspective or by an
4
(...) Contemporary critical studies have experienced a signicant
spatial turn. In what may be seen as one of the most important intellectual
and political developments in the late twentieth century, scholars have
begun to interpret space and the spatiality of human life with the same
critical insight and emphasis that has traditionally been given to time
and history on the one hand, and to social relations and society on the
other (...), E.W. Soja, Thirdspace. Journeys to Los Angeles and other
Real-and-Imagined Places, London/NY 1996, (quoted after:) Döring J.,
Thielmann T. (Hrsg.), Spatial turn. Das Raumparadigma in den Kultur-
und Sozialwissenschaften, p. 9.
attempt to dene a new phenomenon which appears in
a given eld of research. Thus, we deal with the particu-
lar metaphors of spatial turn. This multitude of metaphors
allows us to assume a hypothesis about transdisciplinar
character of the contemporary science and its particular
disciplines. Apart from the notion of spatial turn, we can
also distinguish the following expressions: 1) topological
turn, which refers to mathematical terminology and phe-
nomenology within philosophy; 2) topographical turn,
in theory of literature and culture, an expression based
on discovering space as a text with its roots in cartog-
raphy, i.e. map and map reading as transforming space
into a text and also as an expression of human control
over space
5
. – A characteristic form of space rehabilita-
tion is assumed by spatial turn in historical sciences –
this process was initiated by a German author named
Karl Schlögel. The starting point here is the question
about possibilities of existing the so called great narra-
tions after their proper end caused by the postmodernism
postulate of F. Lyotard. Spatial turn signies a symbolic
return of space to the historical discourse in form of lo-
cating and spacing historiographical representations and
analyses within the impingement sphere of the particu-
lar cultural and social space, and consequently, historical
space
6
.
5
Cf. program text of topographical turn, also as a response of Eu-
ropean humanities to Anglo-Saxon cultural studies: Sigrid Weigel, Zum
topographical turn, Kultur-Poetik 2002, [in:] Döring J., Thielmann T.,
Spatial turn..., pp. 15–18.
6
(…) Erneuerung der geschichtlichen Erzählung selbst (…) die
Frage nach der Möglichkeit einer großen Erzählung nach dem Ende der
Großen Erzählung (...). History takes place, deshalb sei jede historiogra-
phische Darstellung dezitär, die nicht auch die je historisch-konkrete
Ortsverhaftung des zu rekonstruierenden Geschehens mitexpliziere (...),
Döring J., Thielmann T., Spatial turn..., pp. 20–22; cf. Karl Schlögel, Im
Raume lesen wir die Zeit. Über Zivilisationsgeschichte und Geopolitik,
München 2003.
Compression of time and space
Compression of time and space (D. Harvey) constitutes
a particular background for rediscovering space in the last
decade of the 20
th
century; this term refers to the process
of condensing horizons of cognition connected with time
and space which at the same time led to an implosion of
space. Equally, in McLuhan’s global village, in Urry’s mo-
bile society as well as in Castells’ web society, it is in the
space that lines of ows, loops, centres and peripheries
are designated. According to the postulated postmodern-
ist theory of media, the process of overcoming time and
space, to paraphrase McLuhan, takes place exactly in the
space as medium and message in one. In other words, the
postulated deterritorialization of cyberspace is suspended
on the coordinates of this space
7
[2, 12, 17, 18].
7
The phenomenon of compression of time and space is analysed by
David Harvey in the study The Condition of Postmodernity. An Enquiry
into the Origins of Cultural Change, Oxford/Cambridge 1989. The rst
Therefore, a technologically plausible compression of
time and space requires social location and spacing. Deter-
ritorialization refers to the technology, not to man and soci-
ety. Communication technologies do not liquidate spaces,
however, they do change them
8
[3]. This phenomenon is
interpretation of changes occurring in the world of media was presented
by H.M. McLuhan, cf. his study: Wybór tekstów, Zysk i s-ka, Poznań
2001. As for model of information society with the concept of space as
a cultural function, cf. Castells, M., Społeczeństwo sieci, PWN, Warszawa
2007. The concept of society based on the phenomenon of mobility is
presented in the work of J. Urry, Socjologia mobilności, PWN, Warszawa
2009. As for issues of new cyber-culture and technological determinants
of the modern society, cf. Zawojski, P., Cyberkultura. Syntopia sztuki,
nauki i technologii, Poltext, Warszawa 2010.
8
(…) ganz so als sei die technisch ermöglichte time-space compres-
sion nur vermittels einer Standortversicherung (...) sozial zu ertragen.
Auch in der Netzwerkgesellschaft bleibt Territorialität als eines der orga-
nisierenden Prinzipien sozialer Beziehungen elementar von Bedeutung.
Spatial turn. Transcultural and transdisciplinar spaces in the architecture 205
characteristic of the globalization process in which new vari-
eties of space appear in the context of technological carriers
of communication as global, transcultural and transnational
ones. Therefore, the postulates of McLuhan to overcome
and consequently get rid of spaces in the meantime serve
the purpose of locating ourselves, as it is the case with the
GPS technology (Global Positioning System). At the same
time, the development of new communication technologies
changed the form of impingement of cultures and civiliza-
tions, which not only impinge within their orbits and spaces,
(...) Die Orte der Lebenswelt bleiben, aber sie sind nurmehr als media-
lisierte zu denken (...) diese fachübergreifende spatial-turn-Perspektive
als notwendige Korrektur einer postmodernen Raumignoranz, Döring J.,
Thielmann T., Spatial turn..., p. 15.
but were also located either in space or in orbit. Media tech-
nologies (satellite transmission) represent a given culture
in orbit, but not the orbit of a given culture
9
. In this sense,
there is a growing tendency for materialization in the cur-
rent discourse on culture and civilization which are more
and more dominated by the technological development. As
a consequence, along with spatial and technological turns,
we can observe the return of materialistic concepts of cul-
ture and its materialistic determinants
10
[4].
9
As an example of technological spacing of cultures and civilizations,
cf. Parks, Lisa, Cultures in Orbit. Sattelites and the Televisual, Durham,
London 2005.
10
Cf. Eibl, K., Kultur als Zwischenwelt. Eine evolutionsbiologische
Perspektive, Edition Unseld, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2009.
Transdisciplinar character of space
We can nd a direct example of spatial turn at the
point of contact of architecture / town-planning and social
sciences in form of transdisciplinar sociology of archi-
tecture (B. Schäfers) and sociology of space (M. Löw).
This change in perspective in social sciences was initi-
ated, inter alia, in the works of P. Bourdieu and A. Gid-
dens along with the introduction of dynamic paradigms
of change in analyses and interpretations of the social life
reality as well as a general process of becoming a society
(P. Sztompka)
11
[13, 16].
On the other hand, the trandisciplinar approach to this
issue dates back to G. Simmel and his space concept in
which he emphasized spatial connections and conditions
of behaviours and social actions, the expression of which
we can nd in his sociology of town and space
12
[15]. This
concept of spatial conditions of social actions refers to
a relational concept of space based on the so called spac-
ing whose author is M. Löw. These concepts emphasize
a dynamic reality and understanding of space in the social
life. They reject the static concept of space as a Euclidian
container for the benet of active production of space as
the space of various relations and references, as spacing,
i.e. creating syntheses in the reality of conicts and inter-
nal tensions of the modern mass society. This formula-
11
Cf. Schäfers B., Architektursoziologie. Grundlagen – Epochen –
Themen, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006; Giddens,
A., Stanowienie społeczeństwa, p. 154–206, Zysk i S-ka, Poznań 2003;
Sztompka, P., Socjologia. Analiza Społeczeństwa, pp. 437–553, Znak,
Kraków 2009.
12
Simmel G., Socjologia przestrzeni (1903), [in:] Pisma socjologicz-
ne, pp. 365–385, Ocyna Naukowa, Warszawa 2008.
tion emphasizes the ambiguity of space as a social life
category which is produced and shaped and at the same
time produces and shapes human relations, actions and
behaviours in the social dimension
13
[10, 11]. As a conse-
quence, the contemporary concept of society is based on
the process of constant uctuations and congurations
14
[5] on the one hand, however, on the other hand, ‘the so-
ciety’ is interpreted as an equally important process of
producing space
15
[9].
Therefore, spatial turn signies a new understanding
of space not in the sense of a territory, but rather as a so-
cial production of space by means of various, sometimes
contrasting social processes, actions and aspirations. On
the other hand, the expression of a postmodernist turn to-
wards space and a simultaneous turn away from history
and time as coordinates of modernism is the multiplica-
tion of the so called no-places which are in a state sus-
pension as regards their historical and cultural meanings,
which is the main feature of massing the societies, media
and consumption. No-places express homogenization and
standardization of the global dimension – space becomes
as if a massed product
16
[1].
13
Cf. Löw M., Raumsoziologie, pp. 69–129, Suhrkamp Verlag,
Frankfurt am Main 2009; Löw, M., Steets, S., Stoetzer, S., Einführung
in die Stadt- und Raumsoziologie, pp. 51–92, Budrich/UTB, Opladen &
Farmington Hills 2008.
14
Elias N., Czym jest socjologia?, pp. 89–233, Aletheia, Warszawa
2010.
15
Jałowiecki B., Społeczne wytwarzanie przestrzeni, Scholar, War-
szawa 2010.
16
Augé M., Nie-miejsca. Wprowadzenie do antropologii hipernowo-
czesności, PWN, Warszawa 2010.
Spatialization in architecture and town-planning
The contemporary accumulation of technological de-
velopment has led to a fusion of society and technology
on the ground of esthetics, namely new technologies of
communication and visualization. At the same time, the
meaning of technologies themselves has been extended as
regards their role as special rhetoric tools in the discourse
206 Tomasz Stępień
on culture and architecture. As a result, space and technol-
ogies have become an esthetic expression of transforma-
tion of the modern society in all of its dimensions
17
[8].
By analogy with the change of space perception in so-
cial sciences, also in architecture we can distinguish the
two concepts of space which condition each other. On the
one hand, it results from the understanding of architecture
and its functions in the social reality as a social action and
fact, i.e. a special process of ‘notching’ space in which we
encode our culture of actions and behaviours
18
[3]. On the
other hand, in the architecture proper we can nd esthetic
interpretations of philosophical concepts of technology and
space and their inuence on the society structure and its
changes. This results from the fact that architectonic / urban
space has two faces as it is at the same time produced and
producing and from its signicance in culture. Thus, one of
the main issues is the denition of the role and meaning of
technology in the current dispute on architecture and its spa-
tial impingements upon society and culture. The history of
architecture, the very motive of building and residing can be
understood in the perspective of technology as special rhet-
oric tools of discourse on culture, space and architecture.
A good example here is the static architectural formu-
la/paradigm by Le Corbusier based on the Plato idealistic
concept of technology dened as a process of producing
according to a determined formula/paradigm which is
supposed to express an aspiration for perfection and en-
able existence in the historical dimension. It is contrasted
17
Multidimensionality of esthetic and technological society transfor-
mation process along with its transdisciplinar and transcultural character
were presented in the study: Heil R., Kaminski A., Stippak M., Unger
A., Ziegler M. (eds.), Tensions and Convergences. Technological and
Aesthetic Transformations of Society, transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2007.
18
„Architektur als überaus beständige, kulturell verbindliche ‘Ker-
bung’ des Raumes, durch die Handlungspotentialitäten codiert werden“,
[in:] Döring J., Thielmann T., Spatial turn..., p. 18.
with the futurism which places emphasis on the dyna-
mism of the technologies proper and is based on Hera-
clitus and his variabilism where history is rejected for the
benet of a post-historical permanent process of changes.
Architecture as a phenomenon which is dynamic, chang-
ing, constantly reviving and renewing corresponds to the
paradigm of incessant change and movement in Heracli-
tus philosophy and at the same time rejects the idea of
eternal, invariable lasting adequate to the concept of the
world by Plato. These two ontological concepts clash and
this can be observed in the contemporary interpretations
of the phenomenon of technology and in divergent ten-
dencies within the architecture proper. – This contrast is
presented against the background of ideological dispute
within politics with architecture as a reection of the state
of the modern society
19
[7]. A similar contrast can be seen
in the architectural interpretations of place and space in
functionalism (pragmatism and statism) and structural-
ism (variability and openness of space). Along with the
discovery of interculturality and transdisciplinarity in the
second part of the 20
th
century, these contrasts led to the
so called spatial turn in social sciences, which from then
on have been based on the multidimensional concept of
space expressed in the dispute of modernism/postmod-
ernism. This dispute, which focused of interpretations of
form and space, at the same time, became the axis of the
development of the modern architecture
20
[6]. In this way,
architecture appears to be reected in philosophy and
technology as an integral element of culture
21
[8].
19
Cf. Habermas J., Moderne und postmoderne Architektur, [in:]
Welsch W. (ed.), Wege aus der Moderne, Acta humaniora, Weinheim
1988, pp. 110–120.
20
Ghirardo D., Architektura po modernizmie, Via, Wrocław 1999,
21
Cf. Timmermann P., Architecture in the Mirror of Technology. [in:]
Heil R., Kaminski A., Stippak M., Unger A., Ziegler M. (eds.), Tensions
and Convergences..., pp. 47–57.
element and a challenge at the same time, for example, in
the project Ark (Kyoto 1983). Takamatsu’s creative work is
inspired by metaphors of light and shade which occur in the
architecture of East and West with reference to one of the
oldest Shinto temples Izumo
24
. His architecture represents
an interpretation of this tradition as a radical entry into the
24
As is emphasized by Takamatsu: (…) In Bezug auf Licht kann ich
wohl sagen, daß ich unter dem Einuß von Izumo stehe. Das izumoische
Licht ist eine leuchtende Finsternis, wie ich es gerne nennen möchte.
Das heißt, die Finsternis ist hier kein Gegensatz zum Licht, sondern sie
ist eine leuchtende Finsternis. Die Finsternis von Izumo bestimmt und
deniert das Licht. Jede Existenz tritt in Erscheinung, nicht weil sie im
Licht steht, sondern weil sie einen inneren Schein in sich trägt. Dieser
Gedanke über Izumo spielt für mich eine wichtige Rolle, wenn ich mich
mit Architektur befasse. Meine Vorstellung ist es immer gewesen, alles,
wie Orte, Material, Gestalt und Architektur zu kristalisieren, als etwas,
das vom eigenen Licht durchtränkt ist (...), [in:] Shin Takamatsu, ein
Architekt aus Kyoto, p. 20.
Notching space – Shin Takamatsu’s architecture
These internal connections of modern architecture, phi-
losophy, social transformations and new technologies with-
in the framework of multidimensional tensions between
modernism and postmodernism found their expression in
the projects executed by a Japanese architect Shin Taka-
matsu
22
. His architectural designs understand architecture
as an integral element of culture and at the same time they
go beyond the general scheme of controversies between
modernism and postmodernism. Takamatsu has his own
unique way of interpreting space in the context of tradition
and history of the Japanese culture. It manifests itself as
a radical process of ‘notching’ this historical and cultural
space in form of ‘architectonic machines’
23
as its integral
22
Shin Takamatsu, ein Architekt aus Kyoto, mit Beiträgen von
F. Guattari, P. Virilio, S. Takamatsu, Merve Verlag, Berlin 1995.
23
Cf. Guattari F., Die Architektur-Maschinen von Shin Takamatsu, [in:]
Shin Takamatsu, ein Architekt aus Kyoto, Merve, Berlin 1995, pp. 56–83.
Spatial turn. Transcultural and transdisciplinar spaces in the architecture 207
the other in relation to the triad of history, tradition and
culture – we can observe duplicity of architecture. The ar-
chitect may remain faithful to the so called genius loci to
which he subordinates an act of creation and architecture
in the perspective of historical long lasting (F. Braudel) or
he can reject history and horizontality for the benet of
moment, transfer and ow (M. Castells, J. Urry) by intro-
ducing a vertical bend in form of moment-place, in which
architecture becomes a challenge for the existing place and
space. One of the examples of such domination of place in
the process of simultaneous producing and bending space
is the design by Takamatsu Kirin Plaza Osaka. In order to
express this dependency between architecture and space,
Takamatsu uses the metaphor of ether (Ether Planning)
27
.
This concept was supposed to enable the denition of eet-
ingness, change, temporariness in space, which at the same
time remains specied. In this sense, the metaphorical
character of architecture connects its development start-
ing from the aesthetics of space and glass at the beginning
of the 20
th
century contained in the studies of Mies van
der Rohe and the metaphors of light and shade at the end
of the 20
th
century in Takamatsu’s projects. Concurrently,
Takamatsu’s designs express new technologies at the turn
of millenniums, for example, Yokohama Urban Ring as an
attempt to express electronic space.
As emphasized by P. Virilio, Takamatsu treats space as
the subject of criticism and also as a peculiar subversive act
of abolishing rules. However, it does not occur in the sense
of postmodernist deconstruction but it rather means the ques-
tion of what and when to build. It resulted from the specic
transformation of the Japanese society after World War II.
Takamatsu’s structures explicitly enter space; it is a particu-
lar process of notching space as an expression and objectivity
of the whole issue of spatial turn exactly by Zuspitzung (P.
Virilio) – sharpening, overstatement in form, confrontation
with the existing principles of the static and widely accepted
scheme. This confrontation resulted from the unique situa-
tion in the history of Japanese culture and society, which was
suspended between the past and tradition as well as progress
and future, from the permanent state of tension between ide-
as and condensing of metropolis space
28
.
27
Äther ist für mich eine Metapher für einen Raum: Ein veränderlicher,
ätherischer Raum durch die ungleichmäßige Dichte der Luft, in dem jedes
Teilchen sich frei bewegt und die Entstehung der neuen Raumstruktur be-
einußt. Ein Raum, in dem die Inkohärenz der Kohärenz und die Kohärenz
der Inkohärenz ein exibles, dichtes, dynamisches Feld darstellen. (...) Ich
kam zu der Überzeugung, daß die Räume, die demnächst in Betracht kom-
men sollen, gekennzeichnet sind durch diese unbestimmte Bestimmtheit,
[in:] Shin Takamatsu, ein Architekt aus Kyoto, p. 37.
28
In this context P. Virilio emphasizes: Das heutige Nippon, das
zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft, zwischen Gedächtnis und Erndung
vereinsamt ist, kommt auf den Augenblick zurück, auf die kurze Zeitspanne
einer photographischen Momentaufnahme. (...) Shin Takamatsu Werk
entspringt aus Spannungen, die hier, in Tokio, in Kyoto und anderswo
wirksam sind, aus Spannungen, die der Dichte des Verkehrs und der
Überdichte der städtischen Bevölkerung geschuldet sind: Es erscheint
wie das Bild einer unvermeidlichen Zusammenballung von rückwärtsge-
wandten und vorausblickenden Ideen, als Sinnbehälter, als Panzerschrank
von architekturalen Werten, die dabei sind, zu verschwinden, P. Virilio,
Zuspitzung am Beispiel von Shin Takamatsu, [in:] Shin Takamatsu, ein
Architekt aus Kyoto, pp. 50–51.
space of this place, i.e. in this case the city space of Kyoto –
generally modern space of the Japanese culture [14].
The starting point in the analysis of Takamatsu’s crea-
tive work is the denition of architecture as a tool and
at the same time method of expression of the moment in
which the architect’s initiation occurs in a creative act by
virtue of an internal need for expression or an act of shap-
ing the form. In Takamatsu’s case this is achieved thanks
to the metaphors of light and shade and the permanent
process of repeating movement as designing-drawing the
form and its search which in architecture means creating
and at the same time researching by analogy with captur-
ing space and architecture as produced and producing. In
this way, a direct analogy is drawn between designing-
drawing and writing as a metaphor of the power of light
contained in the tip of the pen / rapidograph (i.e. technical
pen) (Leuchtkraft, die aus der Spitze des schriftsteller-
ischen Stiftes hervorgeht, ibidem, p. 13).
However, the very act of creation involves an insepa-
rable bond between the subject and the work itself, almost
a biological relation, which is emphasized by Takamatsu
(Ich kann sogar sagen, daß meine Architektur mein Körper
selbst ist, ibidem, p. 18). By analogy with this biological
relation with the work, Takamatsu presents architecture on
the model of mechanism, aggregate which introduces light
into our shade, into man’s interior where light and shade,
similarly to Izumo temple, do not constitute opposites but
mutually complement each other
25
. This inspiration with
Izumo temple in Kyoto also expresses differences in un-
derstanding the metaphor of light between the cultures of
East and West. In the western world, the metaphor of light
dates back to the Plato interpretation of light as a kind of
revelation or completion of a cognition act. On the other
hand, the eastern culture, among other things, the Japanese
culture is characterized by dimmer light which comes out
of shade and it is not explicit because it is burdened with
subtle, sophisticated taboo of reticence. This light serves
the purpose of expressing and simultaneously refuting ta-
boo. In the context of architecture, this means an aspiration
for shaping this internal light hidden in shade – extracting
light from the form, material and nally from the existing
urban space. According to Takamatsu, the act of creation
perceived in this way is something sacral and the architect
himself/herself becomes a priest and alchemist
26
.
In the case of relation between place and space, this
means that place is always dened anew by architecture in
the process of producing space. Such redening of places
is an act of spacing (spacing, M. Löw). Simultaneously,
in the context of place and space on the one hand, and on
25
(…) der das Licht in die Finsternis unseres Inneren dringen läßt.
Licht und Dunkel stehen zueinander nicht in Opposition (...), [in:] Shin
Takamatsu, ein Architekt aus Kyoto, p. 18.
26
Ich glaube auch, daß sich ein Architekt als eine Art Priester der
Images darstellt. Er versucht nicht die Kräfte visuell zu rationalisieren.
Formen sind schon da. In dem Moment, wenn eine Form hervorgeht,
übertrifft sie sich selbst, geladen mit unerhörten Kräften, als eine Existenz.
Die Architektur ist eine paradoxe Maschine, wie ich es mir vorstellte, die
dieses ursprüngliche Begehren von Formen hervorruft und klärt. Ich habe
geglaubt, daß Architektur als ein Filter, als eine Kristallisationsapparatur,
denkbar ist, [in:] Shin Takamatsu, ein Architekt aus Kyoto, p. 22.
208 Tomasz Stępień
Takamatsu refers to the concept of open, dynamic
space of structuralism by Kenzo Tange as a reaction to
the functionalism which was dominant in international
architecture. At the same time, the modern Japanese ar-
chitecture (trend of the so called metabolism) intends to
adapt buildings to the requirements of contemporary man.
F. Guattari denes this trend as processualism, i.e. not
surrendering to the formulas and schemes accepted in the
schools and trends of architecture so far
29
[14]. First of
all, it is a form of provoking and challenging the existing
space which also results from the tradition of form. In the
context of space, Guattari distinguishes two contrasting
concepts: 1) Le Corbusier with his postulate to maintain
the integrated relation between form and space, 2) Mies
29
Wenn man jede systematische Etikettierung dieser Architekten
ablehnt, kann man bei ihnen Prozesse evolutiven Werdens ausmachen,
die ganz natürlich darauf abzielen, ihre Werke aus den funktionalen
Rahmenbedingungen, aus den Erfordernissen des Kontextes, ja sogar
aus jedem kulturellen Bezug humanistischer Art heraustreten zu lassen,
F. Guattari, Die Architektur-Maschinen von Shin Takamatsu, [in:] Shin
Takamatsu, ein Architekt aus Kyoto, pp. 57–58.
van der Rohe with his postulate of separating the work,
i.e. a structure and its form from the environment. The
dilemma between those two concepts means the choice
between maintaining and rejecting the context in relation
to the surroundings. According to Guattari, Takamatsu’s
architecture is the third option – an aesthetic structure in
a way perfect in its form is at the same time open to the
spatial context
30
. Some of the expressions of this third
option are, among other things, the aforementioned no-
places (M. Augé) which become individualized in an act
of creation according to Takamatsu’s idea. These three
options determine the place of architecture in the modern
culture and space [14].
30
Vielleicht genügt aber auch der Hinweis, daß wir jeden Tag solche
Objekte aufsuchen, die intrinsisch strukturiert sind und zugleich mit der
äußeren Umwelt arbeiten: Diese Objekte sind die unterschiedlichen und
vielfältigen Maschinen, durch die unsere moderne Existenz von allen
Seiten her versorgt wird. Ein Merkmal dieser Objekte ist, daß sie sich
im Lauf der Zeit entwickeln und sich gegenseitig in einer Phylogenese
ersetzen, die an die der Lebewesen erinnert, F. Guattari, Die Architektur-
Maschinen von Shin Takamatsu, [in:] Shin Takamatsu, ein Architekt aus
Kyoto, pp. 62–63.
References
[1] Augé M., Nie-miejsca. Wprowadzenie do antropologii hiper no wo-
czesności, PWN, Warszawa 2010.
[2] Castells M., Społeczeństwo sieci, PWN, Warszawa 2007.
[3] Döring J., Thielmann T. (Hrsg.), Spatial turn. Das Raumparadigma
in den Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaften, transcript Verlag, Bielefeld
2008.
[4] Eibl K., Kultur als Zwischenwelt. Eine evolutionsbiologische Per-
spektive, Edition Unseld, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2009.
[5] Elias N., Czym jest socjologia?, Aletheia, Warszawa 2010, pp. 89–
233.
[6] Ghirardo D., Architektura po modernizmie, Via, Wrocław 1999.
[7] Habermas J., Moderne und postmoderne Architektur, [in:]
Welsch W. (eds.), Wege aus der Moderne, Acta humaniora, Weinheim
1988, pp. 110–120.
[8] Heil R., Kaminski A., Stippak M., Unger A., Ziegler M. (eds.), Ten-
sions and Convergences. Technological and Aesthetic Transforma-
tions of Society, transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2007.
[9] Jałowiecki B., Społeczne wytwarzanie przestrzeni, Scholar, Warszawa
2010.
[10] Löw M., Raumsoziologie, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main
2009, p. 69–129.
[11] Löw M., Steets S., Stoetzer S., Einführung in die Stadt- und Raum-
soziologie, Budrich/UTB, Opladen & Farmington Hills 2008,
pp. 51–92.
[12] McLuhan H.M., Wybór tekstów, Zysk i S-ka, Poznań 2001.
[13] Schäfers B., Architektursoziologie. Grundlagen – Epochen – The-
men, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006.
[14] Shin Takamatsu, ein Architekt aus Kyoto, mit Beiträgen von
F. Guattari, P. Virilio, S. Takamatsu, Merve Verlag, Berlin 1995.
[15] Simmel G., Socjologia przestrzeni (1903), [in:] Pisma socjologiczne,
Ocyna Naukowa, Warszawa 2008, pp. 365–385.
[16] Sztompka P., Socjologia. Analiza Społeczeństwa, Znak, Kraków
2009, pp. 437–553.
[17] Urry J., Socjologia mobilności, PWN, Warszawa 2009.
[18] Warf B., Arias S. (eds.), The Spatial Turn: Interdisciplinary Perspec-
tives, Routledge Studies in Human Geography, London 2009.
[19] Zawojski P., Cyberkultura. Syntopia sztuki, nauki i technologii,
Poltext, Warszawa 2010.
Spatial turn. Przestrzenie międzykulturowe i transdyscyplinarne w architekturze
Współczesna akumulacja rozwoju technologii doprowadziła do fuzji
społeczeństwa i technologii na fundamencie estetyki, dokładnie nowych
technologii wizualizacji. Jednocześnie poszerzyło się znaczenie samych
technologii jako swoistych retorycznych narzędzi dyskursu toczonego
wokół kultury oraz architektury. Jako przykład może tutaj posłużyć
statyczny wzór/paradygmat architektoniczny Le Corbusiera oparty na
platońskiej idealistycznej koncepcji technologii (wytwarzania). Jego
przeciwieństwem jest futuryzm z podkreśleniem dynamizmu samych tech-
nologii, a oparty na heraklitejskim wariabilizmie. Podobne przeciwieństwo
odnajdujemy w architektonicznych interpretacjach miejsca i przestrzeni
funkcjonalizmu (pragmatyzm i statyzm) oraz strukturalizmu (zmienność
i otwarcie przestrzeni). Wraz z odkryciem międzykulturowości i transdy-
scyplinarności w drugiej połowie 20. wieku przeciwieństwa te doprowa-
dziły do tzw. zwrotu przestrzennego w naukach społecznych, opartych
od tego momentu na wielowymiarowej koncepcji przestrzeni i wyrażonej
w sporze modernizm/postmodernizm. Spór ten stał się jednocześnie osią
rozwoju współczesnej architektury, czego wyrazem są projekty Shin
Takamatsu. W ten sposób architektura ukazuje się w zwierciadle lozoi
i technologii jako integralny element kultury.
Key words: spatial turn, space in architecture Słowa kluczowe: spatial turn, przestrzeń w architekturze