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delimit, shape and link spaces together by means of openings.
In China and Japan, this phenomenon is referred to as ma;
according to this principle, spaces and places acquire their
nature from the in-between, from the emptiness between
graspable, material elements. While space derives its value
from emptiness, structural elements – even when they are flat- possess bodies (> body, architectural) that consist of mass.
Thus the empty space essential for rooms is produced through
its complementary relationship with these bodies.
If we consider the spaces between bodies and those with-
in bodies as a unified medium, then we speak of a ‘continu-
ous space’ (Hoesli 1997), or of the > space-body continuum
of architecture. But built space is not spread out in front of
us as a separate reality; instead, architectural space encom-
passes structural elements and inhabitants alike as a total
situation. Space – as it is explicated by various theories – ap-
pears in a multitude of ways. Decisive, for example, is the
notion of space as an expended sphere of the human > body,
as a spatial volume that serves as a radius of movement. The
expansion of perceptual space is dependent upon the materi-
ality of spatial delimitations, which provides stability to the
range of the senses and the > extension of > personal space.
In perception, we experience space not as neutral, but as in-
fluenced by > force fields. Since > movement is an essential
moment of architectural experience, our scope of movement - which we experience through kinaesthesia – plays a special
role. If space is regarded as a texture of > places, then its
routes become a connecting network of places that consti-
tutes a hodological space (a route space). From the perspec-
tive of > use, the space of action appears as a system of spatial
positions that are important for action. It is extended in the
social and political realm, which emerge through the actions
of people and their social interrelations. The > atmosphere
which permeates in architectural space converts it into an at-
mospheric space. All of these conceptions of space, despite
their different emphases, share the way in which the relation-