WINDOW RESEARCH INSTITUTE

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…

A Conversation with Leth & Gori

How do you create a house that can be maintenance-free for 50 years and last for at least 150 years? The Brick House designed by the Denmark…

Shoei Yoh: Architecture of Light, the Real, and Monism

Architectural historian Yoshitake Doi who began teaching in Kyushu in the 1990s and witnessed firsthand as Fukuoka-based Shoei Yoh completed…

Terunobu Fujimori│008: The Ribbon Window of the Karuizawa Summer House—The Modernists’ Dream, Realized in Japan

In this series architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori who has traveled extensively to study buildings of various times and places will be…

“Shoei Yoh: A Journey of Light” Symposium Report

On September 7 2024 the symposium “Shoei Yoh: A Journey of Light” was held at the AIJ Hall (Architectural Institute of Japan Tokyo). Centere…

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 …

The Diversity of Windows in Kiyonori Kikutake’s Serizawa Literary Center (Serizawa Kojiro Memorial Museum)

Numazu Shizuoka—the birthplace of Kojiro Serizawa the author known for works such as Ningen no Unmei [The Fate of a Human]. Nestled in a pin…

A Culmination of Sutemi Horiguchi’s Aperture Designs: The Tokoname City Municipal Ceramics Research Institute (Tokoname Tounomori Research Institute)

The exhibition Explorations of Horiguchi Sutemi: Modernism Rikyu Garde…

The Windows of Tomoya Masuda’s Naruto Cultural Center: A Faintly Bright Louvered Space

The Naruto Cultural Center is a posthumous work by architect Tomoya Masuda. It is one of several buildings that the former Kyoto University …

A Conversation with Silke Langenberg

Silke Langenberg Full Professor for Construction Heritage and Preservation in the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich has been conducti…

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…

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

The Awazu House designed by Hiroshi Hara now searches for a path toward continuity. A number of masterpieces have been created here at this …

A Home that Draws in Breezes from All Directions: The Fumiko Hayashi House

Fumiko Hayashi (1903–1951) a prominent Showa era writer established a new residence in Shimoochiai (present-day Nakai) Tokyo in 1941 amid a …

Terunobu Fujimori│007: The Shōji of the Rinshunkaku

In this series architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori who has traveled extensively to study buildings of various times and places will be…

Gerrit Rietveld – A sense of space

Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) is perhaps Holland’s best-known architect. His Schröder House in Utrecht from 1924 has achieved iconic status. I…

Migishi Atelier

Virtual Tour

This early work of Japanese wooden modernist architecture was built for the painter couple Kotaro and Setsuko Migishi. Despite undergoing mu…

The Windows of the Komai House by W. M. Vories & Co.

The soon-to-be 100-year-old Komai House now called the Taku & Shizue Komai Museum stands along a canal path in Kitashirakawa a suburban …

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…

Terunobu Fujimori│006: The Shitomi of the Kondo Hall at Ninnaji Temple

In this series architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori who has trave…

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…

Windowless Buildings: Their Logic and Pathology

One characteristic element of the modernist architecture that emerged in the early twentieth century is the large window. That is windows mu…

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 …

Terunobu Fujimori│005: The Katōmado of the Shizutani School Auditorium: An Un-Japanese Japanese Window

In this series architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori who has trave…

The Experimental Design of the KATONO House in Sapporo

Known as an experimental work of modern architecture tailored for Hokkaido’s climate the KATONO House (Personal Residence) in Sapporo design…

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…

Terunobu Fujimori | 004: The French Windows of the Glover House: Arrivals from India

In this series architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori who has traveled extensively to study buildings of various times and places will be…

The Divine Invasion: Aldo Rossi’s Windows without Glass

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

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…

Windows in the Tokunoshima, Amami Region: Boma Shimaguchi Dialect

Linguist Yasunari Ueda has been delving into the origins of words from around the world that mean “window” to understand how the concepts be…

Terunobu Fujimori | 003: The Vertical Sliding Windows of the Public Speaking Hall (Mita Enzetsukan)

In this series architectural historian and architect Terunobu Fujimori who has traveled extensively to study buildings of various times and …

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…

Architecture with “Madosoto” at all times and in all places

Fushimi: Today as we begin our new series “Madosoto: Outside Scenery” we would like to discuss the scenery outside the window. First let me …

The Windows of the Migishi Atelier: Inheritance and Change

In October of last year (2021) the Migishi Atelier (Kamisaginomiya Nakano Tokyo) was opened to the public after the architecture collective …

Terunobu Fujimori｜ 002: The Diverse Openings of the Yosuitei’s Thirteen-Window Tearoom

In this series architectural historian and architect Terunobu Fujimori who has traveled extensively to study buildings of various times and …

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…

Online Event “Hashirama Sōchi: Richness of Space in Japanese Architecture – Talk by Nakatani Norihito” Presented by Japan House London

On Tuesday February 22 Japan House London will present an online event featuring Nakatani Norihito. Date  Tuesday 22 February 2022 Time  12:…

Terunobu Fujimori｜001: The Advent of Magical Light-Transmitting Surfaces, Glass Doors of the Hirano Residence

In this series architectural historian and architect Terunobu Fujimori who has traveled extensively to study buildings of various times and …

Windows of the Prouvé House｜Jean Prouvé’s Windows #2

The Prouvé House is an intriguing example of a building that was made …

Four Tectonic Features that Reside Within Prouvé’s Window Details

Jean Prouvé was originally a metalworker by trade but he became a leading modernist architect himself through collaborating with progressive…

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…

Life in the Holy Land: Jerusalem, Israel

I could see land the color of milk out of the airplane window. My journey had started in China moving ever westward from there and I was now…

Today/Yesterday #2

This column is the second in a series by artist Yokomizo Shizuka who lives in London. She weaves together photographs and text to show us wh…