From Mass to Void: The Theoretical Boundaries of the Carved and A-Tectonic Space

This study reexamines an approach that defines architecture primarily through adding, joining, and building, focusing instead on spaces created through carving and excavation. Architecture should be viewed not merely as a built object, but as a process, a product, and a tool that establishes spatial possibilities. Ludger Schwarte’s philosophy of architecture interprets the production of space through the tectonic-a-tectonic distinction developed through discussions of void, boundary, ownership, and visibility as exemplified by Cappadocia's troglodytic spaces. In this context, he interprets “a-tectonic” not as the opposite of “tectonic” or as a lack of structure, but as the production of void through extracting material from geological mass and through the material identity and continuity between the shell and the ground. Architectural existence is established through negative volume rather than positive objects. It discusses how the carved-out space destabilizes the dichotomies of natural/artificial, ground/structure, interior/exterior, visible/invisible, and ownership/use. Ultimately, “a-tectonic” is less a style or typology than an analytical concept that helps rethink the conditions of architecture’s existence and production.