null2: Boundary-Dissolving Bodies and Architecture towards Digital Nature

2025-09-22

AI Summary

This paper addresses the limitations of static, symbolic architectural paradigms by examining null2—the thematic pavilion of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo—through the lens of real-time human–architecture integration. Methodologically, it analyzes how a distributed mirror installation, coupled with real-time sensor-driven spatial reconfiguration, enables immediate corporeal–architectural co-presence, grounding the design in a “digital nature” ontology and aesthetics. The study synthesizes immersive interaction design, real-time generative graphics, and media art practice to recontextualize East Asian spatial traditions—particularly the tea ceremony space—within an era of ubiquitous computation. Key contributions include: (1) the first systematic articulation of the symbiotic mechanism between Eastern philosophy and computational naturalization embodied in null2; (2) a rigorous mapping of its technical lineage and theoretical foundations; and (3) establishing a critical scholarly reference for World Expo legacy studies, digital cultural heritage preservation, and cross-cultural research in digital architecture.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: (Computational) Cognitive Architectures
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Geometric, Spatial, and Temporal Reasoning

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Experiences and lessons learnt from Web-based algorithms and system deployments
• Responsible Web: Human-perceived consequences of algorithmic deployment on the web

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of the thematic pavilion null2 at Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai, contrasting with the static Jomon motifs of Taro Okamoto's Tower of the Sun from Expo 1970. The study discusses Yayoi-inspired mirror motifs and dynamically transforming interactive spatial configuration of null2, where visitors become integrated as experiential content. The shift from static representation to a new ontological and aesthetic model, characterized by the visitor's body merging in real-time with architectural space at installation scale, is analyzed. Referencing the philosophical context of Expo 1970 theme 'Progress and Harmony for Mankind,' this research reconsiders the worldview articulated by null2 in Expo 2025, in which computation is naturalized and ubiquitous, through its intersection with Eastern philosophical traditions. It investigates how immersive experiences within the pavilion, grounded in the philosophical framework of Digital Nature, reinterpret traditional spatial and structural motifs of the tea room, positioning them within contemporary digital art discourse. The aim is to contextualize and document null2 as an important contemporary case study from Expo practices, considering the historical and social background in Japan from the 19th to 21st century, during which world expositions served as pivotal points for the birth of modern Japanese concept of 'fine art,' symbolic milestones of economic development, and key moments in urban and media culture formation. Furthermore, this paper academically organizes architectural techniques, computer graphics methodologies, media art practices, and theoretical backgrounds utilized in null2, highlighting the scholarly significance of preserving these as an archival document for future generations.

Problem

• Analyzing the shift from static representation to dynamic visitor-architecture integration
• Investigating how computational immersion reinterprets traditional Japanese spatial motifs
• Documenting null2 pavilion's interdisciplinary techniques as archival case study

Innovation

• Dynamic interactive spatial configuration integrating visitors
• Real-time body-architecture merging at installation scale
• Computational naturalization intersecting Eastern philosophical traditions