EMPTINESS

Is emptiness an absence or a presence? According to some astrophysicists, there was no such thing as empty space before the expansion of the universe. Every part of what would later become outer space was densely packed. Emptiness appeared as the possibility to form clusters, galaxies, solar systems, and more. This is why the idea of emptiness is based on the presence of something or lack thereof, rather than simply a mere absence. However, the perception of outer space as empty or void has evolved significantly over the history of the universe. In the field of astrophysics, the existence of outer space implies the existence of tension between the elements in it and attraction forces between celestial objects. This tension within the universe eases by expanding and creating more space between its elements.

On Earth, different civilizations throughout history have attributed different meanings to emptiness. If the existence of emptiness in outer space implies the existence of tension between the elements in it, emptiness on Earth implies a tension between different socio-cultural interpretations of space and the people who produced these interpretations. Early European colonizers of the 1400s and 1500s, for instance, considered the Americas as an empty space marked by an absence of peoples, cultures, and a spiritual and moral authority. In their perspective, these territories needed to be activated by people who were vested by the power of the Catholic Church in order to be inhabited.

In this sense, early European settlers considered themselves as important elements that would fill the so-called ‘empty’ land. Meanwhile, they seldom considered Native inhabitants - though they occupied the Americas for thousands of years prior to contact with Europeans - as peoples that could fill this same space. However, Indigenous people of the Americas consider their territories as homes to centuries old knowledges, cultures, and histories. Despite their presence, they were perceived as absent. The experience of contact between Europeans and Indigenous people of the Americas shows how the idea of emptiness can be used as a strategy of erasing certain communities. By framing land as empty and justifying Native displacement and exclusion, European colonizers allowed the land to become suddenly available for foreign possession.

This is exactly what lies at the base of the doctrine of Terra Nullius; which is a strategy of colonization and of legitimizing emptiness. In this sense, emptiness is not just the natural state of a space or body of land. Terra Nullius is a man-made idea that assigns labels to space by allowing colonizers to legislate and enact ownership rules and rights to the land. In other words, the idea of emptiness inherent in Terra Nullius motivates the institution of colonial law by enacting legislation that determines who has decision-making privileges and how the land will be used. Over time, this legislation develops into complex legal frameworks that inform contemporary land titles, ownership laws, and urban policies of property use. In current urban contexts in Canada, the legal frameworks that descend from the institutionalized idea of emptiness and that dictate access to urban territories can cause some of these spaces to become unoccupied. However, this urban-produced emptiness can mean different things depending on who is looking at it.

For real estate developers, emptiness or vacancy is another name for investment. In that sense, a vacant space is not empty and useless, but rather “full with (economic) capital”. It represents the possibility of speculating and creating monetary value. An empty building then becomes a tool for profit that shapes the face of contemporary cities. However, the exploitation of urban vacancy is not without consequences, such as renoviction and gentrification. By accentuating socio-economic gaps between communities and pushing out socio-cultural minorities to the margins, the practice of vacancy-driven speculation destroys the identity of urban sites and is, therefore, unsustainable. The building vacancy rates that result from this process dismantle communities that have traditionally occupied a given urban region. It is not surprising, therefore, to consider vacant spaces as ‘tragic’, because of the loss of character and identity it engenders.

For some community-driven city planners, emptiness is viewed more positively. An empty building can represent an opportunity to transform it into a publicly accessible space where people can live, work and re-invent urban living. If vacant spaces are seen as raw materials for architects and urban planners, they can also be interesting places for testing project ideas and new ways of imagining the city. It is in these grey zones of co-creation that people can shift the focus from the hyperfinancialization of property to creating community through solidarity building.

Furthermore, this research has shown us that emptiness can be understood as a poetic invitation for contemplation and imagination. Metaphorically speaking, emptiness is a powerful ‘état d’être’ that allows people to stop the time for creation and healing. It is also an opportunity for the silenced to be heard and for the displaced to be seen. The Québec-based poet Pierre Nepveu defines emptiness as silence, very much like a place of refuge where there are no sounds that occupy the space, but where the mind and the heart have an opportunity to recreate something on a blank canvas. In this sense, emptiness is a possibility of the appearance of something new in a space - be it a person, a building project, or a work of art - which then transforms into an experience. The outcomes of this creative experience, however, can sometimes be interpreted as short-sighted because they fail to see what existed before a place became empty and can result in the destruction of some communities.

Expo 67, for instance, was a major creative moment in Montréal’s history that turned two islands into spaces of celebration. In its future-oriented trajectory, this event that was titled “Man and his world” desired to perform the idea of human progress for the world to see. But, in the process of constructing a futuristic event, an entire neighborhood was demolished and the St Lawrence River was contaminated. For the sake of modernity and progress, the creative force behind this event led to inadequate policy planning and displaced people who once lived near Expo 67 sites. Therefore, the emptiness that lies behind a creative intervention in space ought to be contextualized in order to understand the whole picture, where existing communities and natural environments have also a seat at the table and are considered a part of any creative experience.

Finally, emptiness can also be interpreted as a form of relief to a busy city because it allows urban planners to imagine different space usages while buildings are unoccupied. The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, was an opportunity for the city to pause, to ‘breathe’ and reconsider how space can be inhabited in more efficient and sustainable ways as the number of empty spaces grew and more people were left without homes. Therefore, emptiness can be a powerful visual and emotional trigger: the feeling of desolation that empty spaces can provoke in us is a strong cue to reflect on how we inhabit our cities and how we relate to space and to other communities. It invites us to re-center community and sustainability at the core of urban living.