WINDOW RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Windowology 10^th Anniversary Exhibition: The World Through the Window
Participating architects, scholars, and artists include Taro Igarashi, Hiroshi Hara, Leandro Erlich, and Takashi Homma, among many others.

Windowology 10^th Anniversary Symposium: Windows Represent Civilization and Culture
A panel of more than 20 speakers, including architects, architectural historians, anthropologists, and special guests from overseas, will come together to share their diverse research and discuss windows.

YKK AP Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda, Tokyo; President: Hidemitsu Hori) will be marking the 10^th anniversary of its Windowology activities by holding an exhibition titled Windowology 10^th Anniversary Exhibition: The World Through the Window from September 28 to October 9, 2017, and a symposium titled Windowology 10^th Anniversary Symposium: Windows Represent Civilization and Culture at the Spiral (Minato, Tokyo). Additionally, a new base will be established for the Window Research Institute to further expand its research activities and disseminate information on windows.

At YKK AP, we have been examining windows from a wide variety of viewpoints, such as architecture, history, culture, art, and design, through our “Windowology” activities, which we initiated in 2007 with the aim of exploring the window from many angles as an academic subject based on our belief that “windows represent civilization and culture”. To mark our 10^th anniversary, we are holding an exhibition and symposium to look back on the history of our Windowology activities and to share the fruits of our research.

In the exhibition, titled Windowology 10^th Anniversary Exhibition: The World Through the Window, we will lay out in simple terms the findings of our Windowology research from the past decade and provide visitors with the opportunity to think about and experience windows from a broad range of approaches. Also featured will be new works of window-inspired art produced specially for the exhibition by artists Leandro Erlich, Yusuke Kamata, and Takashi Homma.

For the symposium, titled Windowology 10^th Anniversary Symposium: Windows Represent Civilization and Culture, we will invite experts from various fields who have taken part in our Windowology activities in the past to share their research work. The panel will be composed of approximately 20 participants, including several unique guests from overseas. This will be an international and interdisciplinary research presentation event focused on windows.

 

① Event Overview (Exhibition)

Title: Windowology 10^th Anniversary Exhibition: The World Through the Window
Admission: Free
Venue: Spiral Garden and Showcase (SPIRAL, 1F)   5-6-23 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062  Rep. Tel.: 03-3498-1171
Dates + Hours: Thu., September 28, 2017 – Mon., October 9, 2017 (Public Holiday) 10:00 – 20:00 (open every day)
Exhibition Director: Taro Igarashi (Professor, Tohoku University; General Supervisor of Windowology)
Exhibition Design: Tezzo Nishizawa (Architect)
Exhibition Graphics: Ken Okamoto (Graphic designer)
Organizer: YKK AP Inc.
Website: https://madoken.jp/en/
Talk Event:  Thu., September 28, 2017

The exhibition will travel to architecture schools nationwide after October.

Artwork Exhibits (alphabetical order)
Leandro Erlich (Artist), Takashi Homma (Photographer), Yusuke Kamata (Artist)

Research Exhibits (alphabetical order)
Hiroshi Hara (Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo; Hiroshi Hara + Atelier Phi), Taro Igarashi (Professor, Tohoku University; Architectural historian/critic), Yuichiro Kodama (Professor Emeritus, Kobe Design University; ESTEC DESIGN),  Shin Muramatsu (Professor, The University of Tokyo; Architectural historian), Norihito Nakatani (Professor, Waseda University; Archiologist), Koji Sato (Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology; Architectural anthropologist), Yoshiharu Tsukamoto (Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology; Atelier Bow-Wow)

Talk Event Speakers (September 28) (alphabetical order)
Leandro Erlich (Artist), Hiroshi Hara (Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo; Hiroshi Hara + Atelier Phi), Taro Igarashi (Professor, Tohoku University; Architectural historian/critic)

 

② Event Overview (Symposium)

Title: Windowology 10^th Anniversary Symposium: Windows Represent Civilization and Culture
Date + Time: Tue., October 3, 2017, 9:00 – 19:00 (tentative end time)
Venue: Spiral Hall (SPIRAL, 3F)   5-6-23 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062

Speakers (alphabetical order)
Iwan Baan (Photographer), Manabu Chiba (Professor, The University of Tokyo), Terunobu Fujimori (Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo), Hideo Hama (Professor, Keio University), Takashi Homma (Photographer), Taro Igarashi (Professor, Tohoku University), Toshiharu Ikaga (Professor, Keio University), Koh Kitayama (Professor Emeritus, Yokohama National University), Hiroto Kobayashi (Professor, Keio University), Shigeo Kobayashi (Professor, Tokyo City University), Yuichiro Kodama (Professor Emeritus, Kobe Design University), Tetsu Kubota (Associate Professor, Hiroshima University), Takashi Machimura (Professor, Hitotsubashi University), Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani (Professor Emeritus, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich), Shin Muramatsu (Professor, The University of Tokyo), Norihito Nakatani (Professor, Waseda University), Koji Sato (Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology), Tsuyoshi Seike (Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo), Tsukasa Takenaka (AnS Studio), Takaharu Tezuka (Professor, Tokyo City University), Yoshiharu Tsukamoto (Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology), Makoto Yokomizo (Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts)

Talk event and symposium speakers are subject to change without notice.

 

< Media Inquiries >
Windowology Exhibition Public Relations Office
Tel.: 03-5414-6405   Fax.: 03-5414-6406
E-mail: pressrelease@how-pr.co.jp

 

◆Windowology
“Windowology” refers to the research activities YKK AP initiated in 2007 to explore the window as an academic subject. We have been working to contribute to the shaping of architecture, cities, and society through defining the positions of windows in history and culture, identifying their significance and roles, and shedding light on their appeal and potential.

◆Window Research Institute
Since 2007, YKK AP has been conducting “Windowology” research activities aimed at building a diverse body of knowledge on windows and contributing to the shaping of the future based on a belief that “windows represent civilization and culture”. The Window Research Institute was founded in 2013 to conduct surveys and research on windows from various academic perspectives together with researchers and architects. We have so far produced and organized publications, exhibitions, and research workshops both within and outside Japan in order to widely convey the value and potential of windows. In 2014, we worked with architecture studio Atelier Bow-Wow to exhibit a window-themed installation and the findings of our joint research at the University of Milan as part of the Milano Salone, the world’s largest international trade fair of furniture and design.