The Closing Ceremony of the Exhibition Art and the Space In-Between, Iran-Japan

 

The closing ceremony of the exhibition Art and the Space In-Between, Iran-Japan, accompanied by a lecture from Professor Ryue Nishizawa, the world-renowned architect and recipient of the 2010 Pritzker Prize and 2025 RIBA Award, was held at the Asman Cultural and Art Complex on February 6, 2025.
At the outset, Mr. Samad Dehghan, the event organizer from the Persian Seismic Retrofitting Institute, welcomed the audience and introduced the speakers.
Subsequently, Professor Reiji Ando, Professor of Tama Art University and art critic, stated in his lecture that the 間 exhibition in Iran fully realized the late architect Arata Isozaki's (curator of the first exhibition in Paris in 1978 and winner of the 2019 Pritzker Prize) dream of connecting Iranian and Japanese architecture through the concept of the "In-Between Space" and the modern revival of the Silk Road.
Dr. Elham Andaroodi, Associate Professor at the University of Tehran and the scientific and executive secretary of the exhibition, introduced Ryue Nishizawa and his installations at the Art and the In-Between Space, Iran-Japan exhibition. She emphasized that Nishizawa's works, such as the Utsu installation, have redefined the concepts of emptiness and virtuality along the Silk Road. She proudly invited the distinguished architect to deliver his lecture.
The keynote speaker, Mr. Ryue Nishizawa, in his address, introduced over ten of his projects, or those done in collaboration with Kazuyo Sejima from SANAA, in urban and natural contexts around the world. Key features of his designs included the relationship between buildings and their natural or artificial environments, fluid transitions between interior and exterior spaces, free movement between inside and outside, the presence of natural light in spaces, and dynamic and creative forms.
The session concluded with a Q&A, moderated by Dr. Ajdari, international consultant of the Faculty of Fine Arts, during which topics such as the limitations of urban and natural settings, execution methods, and the concepts of open and closed spaces were discussed.