Ma
(間)
Japanese word which can be roughly translated as "gap", "space", "pause" or "the space between two structural parts."
a consciousness of place, the simultaneous awareness of form and non-form deriving from an intensification of vision
Work is no longer a repetitive process but increasingly about connection, interaction and collaboration. New behaviours are needed in a workplace originally designed to keep people apart, where social interaction was banned. The office of today is challenged as a formal and homogeneous setting of furniture and rather strives to generate a stage, which embraces the users and stimulates more creativity and participation. The Nomadic Hub proposes an alternative meeting space, a get away from the office that provides a more casual and fun way of meeting and encourages interaction between different groups of users. Collaborations are the very essence of being in an office, which is why my proposal is aiming to preserve the connection between all floor plates and plans the space around serendipitous encounters.
The design is generating around the Japanese concept of Ma, negative space, and aims to build up a structure by contrasting the visible and invisible space. This is achieved through extracting and adding to the existing structure and cladding it with simple materiality that contrasts between solid and transparent. The first move is opening up the façade at ground level to establish a connection with the street and blur the boundary of inside out. The gap provides space for a screen and the projected presentation or films can be observed both by people on the sitting staircase as well as those on the street. A direct connection between the ground and the sky is visible through the gap on the second level and the glazed roof. The later has been inverted vertically to create another amphitheatre for more casual meetings and relaxation. The level in the middle provides space for meetings of fewer people by “digging” into the floor plate.
