WINDOW RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Is the Happy Era-of-the-Window Over?

Which do you prefer: a society with windows or a society without windows? If asked, I imagine the majority of people would choose a society with windows. However, in Japan, where the population is shrinking, it seems that the windows of the ever-increasing vacant homes are transforming into a symbol of a fading society. Furthermore, in an age that places great emphasis on being safe and secure, windows might seem to encourage crime and thus might even be regarded as a nuisance. Still, “windows” are important, and sociology suggests as much.

Sociology busies itself with examining various themes about societies and humans with diverse insight and a variety of approaches. Here, in our project, by making use of this feature of sociology, we joined forces with several sociologists from various fields and worked on what might be called the “sociology of windows,” (See the diagram below)

Dual relations of society and windows　　　　　

What form should “a space of society and humans” take? Our challenge can be summarized thus: we hope to gain insight by examining windows and, based on our research, imagine a more desirable shape of windows based on those insights. The results of our collective work revealed a simple but fundamental fact: there is a dual defining relation between “society” and “windows.”

“Society makes windows” and at the same time “window makes society.” By associating and circling each other these two elements create our human world and change it. As described in the diagram below, many “questions” emerged when we thought about this dual relationship.

To preserve a “society with windows“

Windows give us happiness. Just as a house without windows is not pleasing, a society without windows is depressing. What is required to preserve a “society with windows” is a challenging question.

But first and foremost, it is important for each of us to recall the experience of “pleasure” that windows give us and the power of “happiness” induced from these experiences. Under the circular structure that “society makes windows and windows make society,” we will attempt to reconfirm the primitive powers of “windows”; that is our primary theme.

Letʼs jump into the world of “the sociology of windows.”

Fundamentals: Windows as media (Hideo Hama)
History: Invisible Light and Windows (Junji Nishikawa)
Fluctuation: Societies and Fluctuations in Numbers of Windows (Takashi Machimura)
Representation: High-rise condos and Windows (Rina Yamamoto)
Application: The Criminology of Windows (Yutaka Harada)