WINDOW RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The architectural movement of Metabolism arose in the 1960s, when Japan’s cities began to reemerge from the devastation of World War II. It was led by the critic Noboru Kawazoe, architects such as Kisho Kurokawa, Kiyonori Kikutake, and Fumihiko Maki, and designers such as Kenji Ekuan. Drawing on the biological concept of metabolism, the Metabolists presented visions of buildings and cities that could be reconfigured and expanded to grow, an idea which resonated with the spirit of a time marked by rapid economic development, population growth, and technological advancement.
The Nakagin Capsule Tower, an icon of Metabolist architecture designed by Kisho Kurokawa and built in Ginza, Tokyo, in 1972, was a building consisting of 140 replaceable prefabricated capsule units that were made to be used as second homes and offices by people working in the city.
A904, one of the building’s capsules, has a round window composed of three layers: a fixed window
on the outside, an inward-swinging window on the inside, and a built-in blind set between them. The inward-swinging window can be unlocked and opened by turning metal handles positioned at the top and bottom. The circular blind is designed like a folding fan that can be adjusted at 90-degree increments and compactly stowed away.

 

 

Index of Window Sounds and Movements
The Index of Window Sounds and Movements is a project to observe and extract the sounds and movements of operable windows in order to understand how we perceive windows with our ears and eyes. This is the first research project of Window Products Inside, and it is being conducted as a collaboration between product designer Yoh Komiyama and the Window Research Institute, with videography by Tomohiro Okazaki.

 

Window Products Inside
Windows Products Inside is a research project initiated by product designer Yoh Komiyama. By extracting and redefining the various meanings that are implicit to the window as an object, the project hopes to uncover what is needed so that windows can create a diversity of new lifestyles, cultures, and new customs.
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