WINDOW RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Of Homes and Windows in the 20th Century: In Conversation with Ken Tadashi Oshima, the Curator of Living Modernity: Experiments in Housing, 1920s–1970s

In the twentieth century as waves of modernization swept across the globe the home became a site of architectural experimentation—an arena i…

Louis Kahn and the Power of Shadow

Does shadow have the power to give form to architecture? The increasing number of transparent buildings and LED installations enforces the i…

Swiss Window Journeys: A Conversation between Andrea Deplazes, Laurent Stalder, and Momoyo Kaijima

On 12 April 2024 to celebrate the publication of Swiss Window Journeys: Architectural Field Notes the Chair of Architectural Behaviorology o…

CCA-WRI Research Fellowship 2024

Applications for the 2024 cycle are now closed. Thank you to all who applied. The Window Research Institute in collaboration with the Canadi…

Issue 14: A Window for Standing Still—Fieldoffice Architects, Paomagudao Park

This issue I’d like to introduce a park that I designed myself. Jiaoxi Yilan’s Paomagudao Park completed in 2021 was formerly th…

Shoei Yoh’s “Light Architecture”

Through this series “Shoei Yoh: A Journey of Light” we have compiled analyses of the work of architect Shoei Yoh focused on the theme of lig…

Issue 13: Democracy Under Canopies (Fieldoffice Architects)

Democracy and freedom have now spread throughout Taiwan a place where …

“Shoei Yoh: A Journey of Light” Symposium Report

…at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa and the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo) respectively. Based on these observations he suggest…

Talk Event Report: Swiss Window Journeys Speakers: Momoyo Kaijima, Chie Konno, Fumiko Takahama, Mio Tsuneyama

On June 22 2024 (Saturday) the Swiss Window Journeys – Swiss Windows and Architecture talk event was held in the Architectural Hall of the A…

From Interiors to Non-Architecture

Architect and architectural history researcher Masaaki Iwamoto who has been leading the development of the Shoei Yoh Archive sheds light on …

Issue 12: A Small Church for the Indigenous (Taitung)

It’s said that Christians now constitute around 7% of Taiwan’s population a rather high proportion compared to Japan’s sta…

Swiss Window Journeys Architectural Field Notes

Momoyo Kaijima's chair of Architectural Behaviorology at ETH Zurich has conducted fieldwork research on Swiss windows based on themes such a…

A window with a memory

I’ve enjoyed drawing pictures ever since I was little and used to make paintings using my own hands and brushes to apply oil to canvas and p…

Windows: Overlapping and passing through

Why wasn’t it a window? I organized an exhibition called Medium and Dimension: Liminal and wrote a text for the exhibition catalogue entitle…

Why Norman Foster Scoops Daylight into his Buildings

Norman Foster known for blending art and science in architecture has led the field since the late 20th century. His designs balancing high-t…

Shoei Yoh: A Journey of Light—Introduction

Architect Shoei Yoh began his creative career as an interior designer in the 1970s. In 2019 he donated materials from his professional archi…

The Windows of Hiroshi Hara’s Awazu House: Spaces of Light Illuminating the Darkness

…of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa’s collection. A countless number of those works were created here in the Awazu…

Issue 11: Joined Somewhere, Connected Throughout—Chen Chi-Kwan, Tunghai University Methodist Hall

The campus of Taiwan’s first private university Tunghai University stretches across the suburbs of Taichung a city in the center-west …

ICU Diffendorfer Memorial Hall / ICU Chapel

Virtual Tour

The ICU Diffendorfer Memorial Hall has continuous windows with frames made of cast aluminum. The completion drawings reveal their intricate …

A Conversation with François Charbonnet (Made in)

Made in is a highly acclaimed architecture firm that was founded in Geneva Switzerland in 2003. François Charbonnet one of its co-principals…

Issue 10: The Billowing School—Chen Ren-He, Wave Building, San Sin High School of Commerce and Home Economics (Kaohsiung)

When talking about the first generation of post-war Taiwanese architects there are famous individuals such as Wang Da-Hong who studied under…

Issue 9: The Windy County Office—Yilan County Hall (Atelier Zo)

While this column has primarily introduced the windows of unnamed buildings in Taiwan there are a number of works of modern and contemporary…

A Tea House for Schönbrunn has been exhibited at the Japanese Garden in Schönbrunn

“Learning from the Japanese Tea House” a project granted by the Window Research Institute for the fiscal year 2022 has been open…

A Conversation with Johansen Skovsted Arkitekter

On the occasion of the “Windowology: New Architectural Views from Japan” currently being held in Copenhagen we conducted a serie…

Double Vision

…0 in (61 x 76.2 cm) Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Becky Cohen © 2022 Robert Irwin / Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York…

Issue 8: The Town of Floating Pigeon Lofts

Houses stand there dotting the farmland. Small huts sit above them in the sky. It’s a bit of a strange sight but one that you’ll…

Does light stop within window panes? – Yuriko Kurimoto’s Window

Since Kunié Sugiura wrote about windows in New York last time let’s start this article on the topic of the American windows that were …

Thinking About Architecture from Their Windows

This book presents findings from the Tohoku University Taro Igarashi Laboratoryʼs Windowology research themed on “Window History” (2007–2009…

Donald Judd and Windows: Contemplating Openings Through the Artist’s Interior Designs and Architectural Renovations

0. Introduction——Why Judd Now? Donald Judd (1928–94) an icon of American Minimalism has many admirers in the architecture world. Presumably …

A Conversation with Christine Binswanger, Raúl Mera (Herzog & de Meuron)

Herzog & de Meuron the Basel-based architectural duo founded their firm in 1978 after studying architecture at ETH Zurich. They have sin…

Issue 7: The Slate Village Down the Mountains: Pingtung

There are now around 580000 native Taiwanese (the term used in Chinese. In Japan it seems the term “indigenous” is often used) r…

The Divine Invasion: Aldo Rossi’s Windows without Glass

When we face the presence of towering walls massive mountains or solid…

Screen Time

Screens are everywhere: stadiums stations billboards buildings refrigerators thermostats on our wrists and in our hands. As a physical inter…

Mediating Light: The Architectures of Photographic Production

The Window Research Institute partners with the Canadian Centre for Architecture to offer the CCA-WRI Research Fellowship. In this article w…

Working Skill Sets

The Window Research Institute partners with the Canadian Centre for Architecture to offer the CCA-WRI Research Fellowship. In this article w…

Issue 6: Beckoning Qilous

Just about everyone in Taiwan eats similar food from the countless semi-outdoor dining halls there. The students all line up for newly opene…

CCA-WRI Research Fellowship 2023

The Window Research Institute in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) offers the CCA-WRI Research Fellowship—a prog…

Issue 5: The Matsu Islands: Small Windows on the Frontier (Part 2)

The first morning of the new year arrived as I stayed in my room on th…

Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Windows in New Mexico

At age 62 after living between New York City and New Mexico for many years artist Georgia O’Keeffe made rural Northern New Mexico her perman…

Issue 4: The Matsu Islands: Small Windows on the Frontier (Part 1)

The Matsu islands are located in northwest Taiwan about as close to mainland China as you can get. It’s one of the farthest locations …

A Conversation with Christ & Gantenbein

Christ & Gantenbein was formed in 1998 by Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein after graduating from ETH Zurich. To date they have be…

Issue 3: Where the Pavilions Went : Orchid Island (Part 2)

I left the village of Yeyin and took a trip around the island. Going o…

Issue 2: The Buried Black Roofs : Orchid Island (Part 1)

While we may often speak of “Taiwanese people” people belonging to a variety of ethnicities and religions live in Taiwan. While …

Japan House London presents Windowology: New Architectural Views from Japan

The Window Research Institute is pleased to announce the exhibition Windowology: New Architectural Views from Japan from 1 December 2021 unt…

CCA-WRI Research Fellowship 2022

This fellowship program launched jointly with the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) is open to accomplished professionals who hold a do…

Issue 1: Windows Visited by Spirits: Pingdong

…e I started living in Taiwan. Contemporary Taiwan is for the most part…

“WINDOWOLOGY: Estudo de janelas no Japão” at Japan House São Paulo

This exhibition showcases windows as fundamental elements of the Japanese society After being exhibited at Japan House Los Angeles the origi…

A Conversation with Peter Märkli

Peter Märkli one of Switzerland’s leading architects started his career after meeting his mentor the architect Rudolf Olgiati. In 1978 he es…