Where does the ‘MA_bookstore’ concept come from? Which philosophy is behind it?

Back in 2021 the group of Italian entrepreneurs “Mooks” commissioned ‘Studio Ricciardi Architetti’ to develop an innovative concept and architectural brand for a chain of bookstores.
The “Ma” is a Japanese ideogram that defines a pause, a lapse, an empty space in which the individual can rest his mind and fill his soul. Ma can be translated as a break to dedicate to ourselves, to the environment, to the lecture, and to the Culture.
The Architect Selene Amico, architectural assistant of ‘Studio Ricciardi Architetti’, studied the Ma philosophy during her architectural research project* and gave the first input about this fascinating concept of the Japanese Culture to the Studio. Her Research propose an innovative dialogue between the concept of Ma and architecture that can be used in many new contests.
Inspired from this research, ‘Studio Ricciardi Architetti’ tried to translate the concept into an architectural format for the new bookstores.
Reading on paper is an authentic experience: the time slows down, it seems to dilate, the paper and the perfume of printed paper invite us to stop, calm down, and to let go.
The library is already a container of Culture itself, an architectural space that preserves the knowledge and makes it accessible to everyone; the new Ma concept adds yet another value to it that originates from the empty space.
The idea of “empty”, that in the western Culture has basically a negative meaning (as lack or absence), assumes a positive value in the eastern/Japanese Culture, and it becomes a space of new possibilities and a real motivation to creativity (Niglio O., 2010). The Japanese ideogram for Ma (間): pause, a lapse a void (Pievani, 2018).
To us, designing a library taking the Ma concept as a central reference means to create an empty space where it can be possible, at the same to both rest and feed the mind.
After the first experimental project realized in Turin in a rectangular box of 23.5 x 7.8 meters (inside the commercial gallery of Spazio S.), the Studio designed and realized the more complicated and charming structure in via Etnea in the pulsing heart of the magical Catania (Sicily).
The current project in progress is the development of a bookstore in the fantastic frame of the Galleria Umberto Primo in Naples that will be the biggest library in Italy of the group Ma-Mondadori.
All the other libraries opened in Italy are based on our design concept but the interior design projects have not been directly studied from Studio Ricciardi Architetti.
The design of the furnitures used to expose books recall the natural curved and shaped lines of the trees to create a suggestive “gallery” that “wraps” the visitors and tempt him to breathe as much Culture as possible, trying to satisfy every curiosity he has.
Poplar plywood, gray painted steel, and the green color of the sansevieria plants are the three elements that, together to a punctual use of artificial lights, translated with simplicity the Ma concept into physical space.
“Ma” (But) we leave the rest to a free interpretation from whom, as us, need to slow down a bit to give the right importance to the use of the time, to the reading, and to the Culture.

* The research developed from the thesis titled "Territories and Thresholds Beyond the Lighthouse" (2017)1 experiments for the first time with the link between Ma (間) and architecture. Originating as a study of lighthouses along the Campania coast, it explores the potential to enhance the territory around lighthouses by activating, through Ma (間), an identity branding process2 for tourism and culture.
Awarded for its original and innovative design3, this study, led by Architect Amico et al., introduced a new perspective where the eastern concept of Ma inspires and guides architectural projects, becoming versatile and adaptable to new contexts and diverse interpretations.
1. Amico S., Cerreta M., Galante P., & Serino R. (2019). UN APPROCCIO DI RIGENERAZIONE PLACE-BASED PER IL TERRITORIO DEI FARI: IL “MA” DEGLI EDIFICI-LANTERNA. BDC. Bollettino Del Centro Calza Bini, 19(2), 441-471. https://doi.org/10.6092/2284-4732/7277; Amico S., Cerreta M., Galante P., & Serino R.(2018), L’economia dei Fari parte da un MA(間), Il Cammino dei Fari Italiani https://www.addaeditore.it/products/cammino-dei-fari-italiani ; Amico S., Cerreta M., Galante P., & Serino R., Opportunità di Rigenerazione per il territorio dei Fari, CASALEZZA_10 catalogo - La Natura dell'arte, pag.10-17, Ischia (2021) https://www.sfogliami.it/fl/251979/pqyx2s6t52rjbbyuqujg3hh8xsqc9frv#page/12
2. Place-based branding: process of discovery, creation, development and implementation of ideas, concepts and actions to re-define and re-construct the identity of a place.
3. Premio Tesi di Laurea NIB (new italian blood) 2020, Territori e Soglie al di là del Faro, Selene Amico https://www.facebook.com/nibmaster/photos/a.660566447387527/3135758306534983/?locale=it_IT
Premio Nextlandmark 2021, Regenerated Spaces (間) around Lighthouse, Selene Amico https://www.theplan.it/whats_on/aperte-le-iscrizioni-al-concorso-next-landmark-2021-mixit%C3%A9-funzionale, https://www.floornature.com/nextlandmark/