top light
Synonym:
skylight,
roof window,
Top light refers to a window installed in the roof to admit natural light from above. Windows installed in the roof may also be called top lights.
Images From Articles (4)
Texts From Articles (177)
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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 organized a walking tour of notable windows across the city…
17 Dec 2024
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CCA-WRI Research Fellowship 2024
This fellowship program, launched jointly with the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), is open to accomplished professionals who hold a doctoral degree or have substantial work experience and a co…
31 Jul 2024
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01│Antoni Gaudí: A “Sensible Architect”
Introduction The window is an extremely popular motif among architects. It would be natural to think that the possibilities for window design flourished after the mass production of plate glass began …
11 Dec 2024
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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 numerous works one after another, explores the essence of …
20 Dec 2024
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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 Yoh’s early works, from his de facto debut project, …
22 Oct 2024
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The Ingot Coffee Shop: Building as a Mass of Glass
Tomo Inoue, a building construction expert engaged in efforts to digitally reconstruct Shoei Yoh’s works using 3D scanners, explains the novelty of the Ingot Coffee Shop, an early work of architecture…
04 Oct 2024
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The Windows of the Diffendorfer Memorial Hall and University Chapel at the International Christian University (ICU): Preserving, Passing On, And…
The International Christian University’s campus plan was originally designed by W. M. Vories & Co. and later developed by Antonin Raymond. The Diffendorfer Memorial Hall and University Chapel, whi…
28 Aug 2024
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A Conversation with Silke Langenberg
Silke Langenberg, Full Professor for Construction Heritage and Preservation in the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich, has been conducting surveys of folk houses throughout Switzerland and explo…
25 Jul 2024
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The Windows of the Cachat Buvette in Evian｜Jean Prouvé’s Windows #4
After resuming his creative activities with his new firm, Jean Prouvé Constructions, Prouvé presented an alternative version of the béquille in a project he had been working on concurrently with the V…
18 Jul 2024
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CCA-WRI Research Fellowship 2024
This fellowship program, launched jointly with the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), is open to accomplished professionals who hold a doctoral degree or have substantial work experience and a co…
01 Aug 2023
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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 stated rate of around 1%. Though neighboring countries, their …
20 Jun 2024
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Swiss Window Journeys Architectural Field Notes
09 Apr 2024
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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-tech with environmental consciousness, have earned global …
24 May 2024
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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 archive to Kyushu University, where they are currently being cat…
21 Mar 2024
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Windows of the Villejuif Temporary School｜Jean Prouvé’s Windows #3
After being driven out of the Maxéville Factory in Nancy, Prouvé was prepared to go into retirement at his self-built home. Yet, he would begin developing new window designs again after reuniting with…
28 Mar 2024
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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 home and atelier of world-famous graphic designer Kiyoshi …
26 Apr 2024
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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 of Taiwan. It is Taiwan’s first Christian school fo…
04 Mar 2024
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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 introducing a selection of notably intriguing windows fo…
01 Feb 2024
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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. In fact, Rietveld built around 100 houses, and of these very …
27 Mar 2023
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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 neighborhood in Kyoto’s Sakyo Ward with open views of Mou…
15 Jan 2024
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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, formerly taught as a visiting professor at ETH Zurich a…
25 Jan 2024
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Windows of the Aichi University of the Artsby Junzo Yoshimura and Akio Okumura:The Concrete Science of Living with Nature
The Aichi University of the Arts was built to the designs of Junzo Yoshimura and Akio Okumura in 1966. Situated in the forested hills of Nagakute, Aichi, the campus was planned with consideration of e…
19 Jan 2024
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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 Walter Gropius and were involved in many state projects s…
10 Jan 2024
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Terunobu Fujimori│006: The Shitomi of the Kondo Hall at Ninnaji Temple
In this series, architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori, who has traveled extensively to study buildings of various times and places, will be introducing a selection of notably intriguing windows fo…
12 Sep 2023
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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 much larger as compared to those of traditional European maso…
04 Aug 2023
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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 series of interviews with four Danish architects in cooperation …
12 Jul 2023
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Double Vision
Selecting “wallpaper” or organizing files on a “desktop” are now familiar acts that can either take place on our digital devices or in our living rooms. Through the screen’s interface, we gain access …
06 Jul 2023
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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 notice sooner or later if you live in rural Taiwan. ,Smal…
17 Aug 2023
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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 once in Nagoya. Yamato Seimei Building (originally the Nago…
11 May 2023
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Terunobu Fujimori│005: The Katōmado of the Shizutani School Auditorium: An Un-Japanese Japanese Window
In this series, architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori, who has traveled extensively to study buildings of various times and places, will be introducing a selection of notably intriguing windows fo…
05 Jul 2023
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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 designed by renowned Hokkaido architect Tetsu Katono (1924–2009) …
12 Apr 2023
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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, this is because his artwork is loaded with allusions to a…
07 Feb 2024
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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 since designed numerous prominent projects worldwide, such as…
24 May 2023
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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 introducing a selection of notably intriguing windows fo…
20 Feb 2023
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Between Hatakeyama and Sugiura
Kokei and Jokei: Sights we see, scenes we feel Whenever transparent glass is installed into buildings or trains or cars, a boundary is established, resulting in the creation of an inside and an outsid…
02 Mar 2023
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Issue 7: The Slate Village Down the Mountains: Pingtung
There are now around 580,000 native Taiwanese (the term used in Chinese. In Japan, it seems the term “indigenous” is often used), representing 2.5% of the Taiwanese population. The governm…
09 Mar 2023
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The Divine Invasion: Aldo Rossi’s Windows without Glass
When we face the presence of towering walls, massive mountains, or solid architectural volumes, we feel both fear and affection. The nature of a solid wall seems to suggest something divine or sublime…
13 Feb 2023
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Screen Time
Screens are everywhere: stadiums, stations, billboards, buildings, refrigerators, thermostats, on our wrists, and in our hands. As a physical interface and virtual portal, screens are also the digital…
25 Jan 2023
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Conversation with EMI Architekten
Ron Edelaar, Elli Mosayebi, and Christian Inderbitzin founded EMI Architekten in Zurich in 2005. The office has developed a particular focus on housing and urban design in Switzerland through numerous…
15 Dec 2022
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Vol.1 Naoya Hatakeyama Mirrors or Windows?
I gaze through the window. The scenery outside shines brightly while in a state of movement, and I am drawn with fascination to all that unfolds before my eyes. All is there on the other side of the w…
21 Oct 2022
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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 behind them have evolved over the ages. In this article, he fo…
26 Sep 2022
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[Extended till Summer 2023]Windowology: New Architectural Views from Japan at the VILLUM Window Collection, Denmark
Please refer to the event archive from below link: ,,After being exhibited at the three Japan Houses in Los Angeles, São Paulo, and London, we are excited to announce that the exhibition Windowology: …
29 Aug 2022
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CCA-WRI Research Fellowship 2023
This fellowship program, launched jointly with the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), is open to accomplished professionals who hold a doctoral degree or have substantial work experience and a co…
10 Aug 2022
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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 places, will be introducing a selection of notably intrigu…
24 Aug 2022
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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 the frontier, and I decided to survey the quiet guesthouse before my friends woke up. While the stonework building appeared to only …
20 Jul 2022
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Former Kyoto Prefectural Tea House/Viewing window for Uji tea
A tea ceremony hall in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture. The building was established for the Kyoto Prefecture Tea Industry Chamber, which is currently used for tea classes as the Uji tea dojo “Takumi no Ya…
08 Jul 2022
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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 permanent home. There, she lived between two adobe homes well in…
24 Jun 2022
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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 explain this series’ main purpose. This website has many…
18 Apr 2022
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No.0: Six Topics for Makoto Ueda’s Interpretation of the Window Space
To kick off the series “Vague Focal Space at the Window,” I interviewed Makoto Ueda, the former Editor in Chief of Toshi Jutaku (Urban Housing) and GA HOUSES. Here, Mr. Ueda has offered six examples t…
18 Apr 2022
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Takamasa Yosizaka: A Window Looking Out on the Slope of a Mountain, For One to View the Scenery Below
Directing light into a room and letting in air are the major roles for window to play in making a living environment comfortable. Yet, there is also a type of window whose main purpose is to expose th…
31 Mar 2022
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Junzo Yoshimura, Sonoda House: Sliding Glass Door Leading to the Garden and Waist-high Window Making a Space Somewhat Core to the Design
A room with a vague focal space During an exhibition of the work of YOSHIMURA Junzo (1908–1997) in 2005 (held at The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts), YOSHIMURA was featured in NHK…
30 Mar 2022
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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 GROUP completed a partial renovation of its interior wall…
01 Apr 2022
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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 places, will be introducing a selection of notably intrigu…
24 Mar 2022
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The Yosuitei06/07 Shitajimado and Renjimado, 08 Nijiriguchi, 09/10 Shitajimado and Renjimado
,06/07 Shitajimado and Renjimado Another instance where Enshu used his favorite combination of an upper shitajimado (exposed lath window) and lower renjimado (slatted window). This shitajimado has a …
04 Dec 2021
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The Yosuitei04/05 Shitajimado and Renjimado
,04/05 Shitajimado and Renjimado Enshu liked to stack shitajimado (exposed lath window) on top of renjimado (slatted window), and he has done so in three places at the Yosuitei. This shitajimado has a…
03 Dec 2021
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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 been involved in a wide range of projects, including the reno…
31 Mar 2022
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Issue 3: Where the Pavilions Went : Orchid Island (Part 2)
I left the village of Yeyin and took a trip around the island. Going on the road made me conscious of being in another land, but in a different way from mainland Taiwan, whether I encountered a pack o…
12 Jan 2022
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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 places, will be introducing a selection of notably intrigu…
09 Dec 2021
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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 until 24 April 2022 at Japan House London. Booking from here. …
01 Oct 2021
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Windows of the Prouvé House｜Jean Prouvé’s Windows #2
The Prouvé House is an intriguing example of a building that was made by piecing together leftover parts from past projects. In the second article of this series, Shin Yokoo examines how Prouvé incorp…
22 Oct 2021
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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 doctoral degree or have substantial work experience and a co…
19 Oct 2021
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Issue 1: Windows Visited by Spirits: Pingdong
After his experience on a journey through villages and folk houses in 11 Asian and Middle Eastern countries, Ryuki Taguma now lives in Yilan, located in northeast Taiwan, while practicing architectura…
14 Sep 2021
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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 architects such as Le Corbusier. He is particularly known …
04 Aug 2021
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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 established his own studio, Studio Märkli, in Zurich. Since…
17 May 2021
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Logging Railway Engine Shed/Window of the Former Forestry
This is a wooden one-story logging railway engine shed in the Historical Village of Hokkaido. The trains enter and leave from the double-opening wooden doors at the front. The doors can be fixed open …
07 May 2021
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Yusho Takiguchi, Aram from Armenia
The atmosphere in a room viewed through a window. The outdoor scenery as you look through the window. The moving views you see from a train window. Windows give vague boundaries to our everyday lives,…
27 Apr 2021
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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 on a short flight from Egypt headed to my final destinat…
22 Mar 2021
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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 what she sees through her windows as the everyday changes dra…
09 Mar 2021
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The Smile Sealed Inside a Bubble—Natsume Soseki’s Inside Glass Doors
Natsume Soseki composed Inside Glass Doors at the end of his life. From inside his room, the “I” of these essays watches the days go by, meditating over visions of the past. Toshiyuki Horie, writer an…
16 Mar 2021
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From the “Window” Snapshots of the 1970s to Contemporary German Photography
Candida Höfer is one of Germany’s leading contemporary photographers. She studied under master photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, and is today widely known as a practitioner of the Becher school of…
03 Oct 2018
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A Conversation with Gion A. Caminada
Vrin is a village of fewer than 250 people nestled in a lush valley in the canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland. It is also the home of architect Gion A. Caminada, who has designed many buildin…
15 Feb 2021
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Shizuka Yokomizo｜Today/Yesterday #1
Today/Yesterday is a series of columns written by London-based artist Shizuka Yokomizo. She weaves together photographs and text to show us what she observes through her windows as the everyday gentl…
14 Jan 2021
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Shinko Clock Shop/Window on the Workbench
Clock store on the island of Osaki Shimojima in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, operating since the Meiji period. The main building on the first floor functions as both a store and a workshop, featuring a…
08 Jan 2021
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Rushing Along the Nile: Egypt and the Nile
,After walking around Cairo for a few days, I took a flight to Aswan, Egypt’s southernmost city. From there, I followed the Nile River north for about ten days back to Cairo together with acquai…
10 Dec 2020
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A Conversation with Mario Botta
Mario Botta, a master architect born in Ticino in the south of Switzerland, still lives and works in the area, practicing architectural design. In this, the second in a series of conversations with Sw…
17 Nov 2020
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Rei Naito: Mirror Creation
Rei Naito is an artist who creates works that converse with the environments that surround them, posing the question “Isn’t simply existing on the earth a blessing in itself?” In the case of Mirror Cr…
02 Nov 2020
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Horizontal Outward Projecting Window
,In this sort of window, the upper frame serves as the axis of rotation: it moves up or down along a groove or rail attached to the top and bottom of the window frame. The window opens when the lower …
27 Oct 2020
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Chapter 3: The viewfinder—transparency and voyeurism from Albrecht Dürer to Ai Weiwei
Every representational image ever made is necessarily a finite framing of the outside world, a viewfinder presenting only what the creator wants us to see. This finite point of view is configured insi…
08 Oct 2020
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Facing the Arches: Cairo, Egypt (part 2)
,Before Al-Qahirah, the city that would become Cairo, was created in the 10th century, the city of Fustat stood slightly to the south. In this region now known as Old Cairo is the oldest mosque on the…
15 Sep 2020
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The Window: A Journey of Art and Architecture through Windows at the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art
The Window Research Institute will be holding an exhibition titled The Window: A Journey of Art and Architecture through Windows together with the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art…
02 Sep 2020
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Movie “A City of Columns”
,movie “A City of Columns” ,Hashirama sōchi (intercolumnar device) is a term used concerning cultural assets that refers to any architectural element that can be placed in the bays between columns. Ex…
03 Aug 2020
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Vertical Outward Projecting Window
,In this sort of window, either the left or right frame serves as the axis of rotation: it moves to the left or right along a groove or rail attached to the top and bottom of the window frame. The oth…
30 Jul 2020
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A Combining City: Cairo
,I got on a plane in Jordan and flew to Cairo, Egypt. It was my first time on the African continent. Though most capitals are busy, Cairo seemed especially so. Just walking from my hotel out into the …
15 Jul 2020
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A Conversation with Gigon / Guyer
The Chair of Architectural Behaviorology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), led by architect Momoyo Kaijima, conducted a series of interviews with architects based in Switz…
17 Jun 2020
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High Altitude Window
,Installed in a high place such as the top of a stairwell, this sort of window facilitates “gravitational ventilation” by making use of how warm air rises. They are opened and closed using a switch or…
22 Apr 2020
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Windows in Photography: Conversations with Iwan Baan, Takashi Homma and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto
Three panelists discuss how photography, architecture, and windows are interrelated. They are Iwan Baan, who has been photographing prominent architectural works by the world’s leading architect…
09 Apr 2020
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Sensing Mother Earth: Petra, Jordan
,During my trip, I saw many ruins in many countries. While these sites stood distant from our modern lives, the people who created them must not have looked too different from us. The questions of how…
02 Apr 2020
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Religion and Cities: Isfahan, Iran
,I experienced no small amount of culture shock in Iran, as it was the first Islamic country I visited. Many of the people I passed on the street were male, while bus seats for men and women are divid…
19 Feb 2020
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Windowology: New Architectural Views from Japan Exhibition at Japan House London
Japan House London is temporarily closed to hinder the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Any changes to the above status will be communicated through our website or social media. https://www.japanhous…
03 Feb 2020
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Memories of a Skylight: Tashqurqan Part 3
The following morning when I arrived at Classy’s house at the scheduled time, we met with another man who seemed to be about the same age as Classy. After finishing a cigarette the three of us left th…
19 Jul 2017
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“Traditional” Balsamic Vinegar in Modena, Northern Italy
Among fruit vinegars made from grapes, a balsamic vinegar is an essential seasoning for Italian cuisine. In the city of Modena in northern Italy, it has been used as an anti-fatigue and digestive medi…
14 Jan 2020
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Shifted Windows: Masuleh, Iran
,There is a small village in the valleys of Iran known as Masuleh that has stood there for over a thousand years. Its tiered homes are built along the mountain’s steep face, and it seems to also…
03 Dec 2019
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Memories of a Skylight: Tashqurqan Part 2
After driving for about 7 minutes in Classy’s car, the windshield of which had a crack in it, we arrived at a wetland area that was completely different from the field of rape blossoms I mentioned bef…
28 Jun 2017
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Memories of a Skylight: Tashqurqan, Part 1
,I headed further west from Turpan by train to arrive at a city in the western reaches of China called Kashgar. From there, I climbed a mountain for 7 hours aboard a bus that kicked up sand and dust a…
31 May 2017
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Breathing in the Desert: Yazd, Iran
,The bus that headed from northern to southern Iran passed once more through alien landscapes created by the desert. It’s as if one must pass through other planets before arriving in another cit…
01 Oct 2019
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A Desert below Sea Level — Turpan, Part 3
What I learned from these grape-drying huts was that the key to a dwelling in a desert below sea level was creating shadows by bricks, poplar, and a few branches and leaves as well as ventilating the …
19 Apr 2017
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Ch.2 Symbolic Realism
The pioneers (2) Talbot ,View of the Boulevards at Paris, 1843 William Henry Fox Talbot was in France between May and June 1843. The main reason for his trip was to teach a series of aspiring calotypi…
11 Jul 2019
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Starting by Surrounding: Takht-e Soleymān, Iran
,I took a cheap shared taxi from Zanjan in northwest Iran, headed next to the ancient ruins of Takht-e Soleymān. An archeological site centered around a massive crater lake, Takht-e Soleymān is said t…
03 Jul 2019
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Thresholds between Coexistence and Architecture
Tom Avermaete is an architectural theorist who teaches at ETH Zurich. Besides working on numerous books and architectural exhibitions focusing on the relationship between public spaces and architectur…
25 Jun 2019
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Sash Window
,A window that opens and closes by moving two or more parallel panels vertically over two or more grooves or rails is called a double sliding window, where both the top and bottom panels move. These s…
12 Jun 2019
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A Desert Below Sea Level — Turpan, Part 1
,What kind of place is a desert below sea level? ,,Turpan is located in the west of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, an autonomous region of China. The city has long served people as an oasis of…
08 Mar 2017
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Red Wine from the Terraced Fields of the Bormida Valley
The Bormida Valley is located in the southern part of Piedmont, a region in northwestern Italy located about two hours by car from Genova. Because the valley is at a high elevation of 400-800m, the te…
28 May 2019
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The City Is a Bazaar: Tabriz, Iran
,Outside my bus window, a new sight to me stretched as far as the eye could see. Smooth mountains that seemed to be striped red and white, sharp and freshly shaved mountains colored bright red, and co…
08 May 2019
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Chapter 1: The studio – exploring the mind of the artist from Caspar David Friedrich to Spencer Finch
…reud’s shuttered, private space; Howard Hodgkin’s top light atelier or Jackson Pollock’s vast upstate barn, it seems as if artists of the 20th century increasingly had no need for windows to the outsi…
26 Apr 2019
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Interview with Tom Emerson, 6a architects
Based in London, 6a architects is an acclaimed architectural office best known for its numerous cultural and educational projects including the Fashion Gallery of the Victoria & Albert Museum or C…
22 Apr 2019
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Zhangcun: The Needs of the Underground Part 3
I realized something was strange here in the centenarian’s Yaodong. The entrances to Yaodongs are generally shaped into a pointed arc, but upon closer inspection, I noticed that the corner arches were…
26 Jan 2017
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Gordon Matta-Clark and Apertures
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo is currently featuring the exhibition Gordon Matta-Clark: Mutation in Space. Matta-Clark graduated from Cornell University, where he had majored in architectur…
17 Sep 2018
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The Bauhaus and Its Influence in Japan
The Bauhaus, founded in 1919 in Weimar, Germany, laid the foundations for modern design with its innovative curriculum that embraced the abstract and constructivist trends of the time. Despite operati…
09 Jul 2021
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“Placing” a Home: East Gilan, Iran, part 2
In Kachalam, a village in East Gilan, a man agreed to show me around in his car despite it only being our first meeting. As he did, I discovered one home that seemed conspicuously old. I told him I wa…
07 Feb 2019
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Dry-cured Ham Culatello in Zibello Village
At the beginning of November, I drove a car north from Parma and aimed for Zibello village. As I passed through the central Old City, I saw fields and houses scattered around. As I advanced the car fu…
28 Jan 2019
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Zhangcun: The Needs of the Underground Part 2
I’ve come to realize that meeting with elders is the best way to learn about their village. Walking through a loess land of beautiful green trees, I continued to develop this method I’ve worked on thr…
05 Jan 2017
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Adobe Windows
Fenestration Observations is a series of window disquisitions by Matthew Fargo. In it, the translator of Genpei Akasegawaʼs Hyperart Thomasson probes the city for hidden and forgotten features of the …
23 Jan 2019
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Houses beyond the Places of Scenic Beauty (2)
Repeating myself the phrase “your house” in Chinese, the old man and I walked for about 40 minutes through a town located outside of the scenic area. I saw a construction site for some new, large buil…
08 Nov 2016
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Zhangcun, “needs of underground” Part 1
,A square hole on dry, ocherous land. ,,People live inside that hole. ,,I stopped in on the village of Zhangcun in Sanmenxia City, Henan. It is located within the Loess Plateau (or the Huangtu Plateau…
09 Dec 2016
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“Placing” a Home: East Gilan, Iran (Part 1)
,Iran was an unknown land to me before I visited it myself. My vague image of it had been of a desolate desert dotted with ancient remains. And so I was surprised to learn that Iran, like Japan, had a…
14 Dec 2018
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Windows: Openings and devices
Laurent Stalder, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), has researched various threshold devices in architecture, and published about the topic under the title “Thr…
12 Dec 2018
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Houses beyond the Places of Scenic Beauty (1)
,We arrive at the town of Wuzhen in northern Zhejiang after a two-hour bus ride from Shanghai. This is an area famous for its beautiful riverside district. Wuzhen is located near the Yangtze River Del…
05 Oct 2016
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Part 6: Proverbs Left to us by Laozi
The aperture in Japanese architecture is the “ma,” or “space between objects.” The aperture in western architecture is the “hole.” What is it in Chinese architecture, then? This is a study on the as o…
05 Dec 2018
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Shanghai, Bars of Iron Sprouting from Windows (2)
My steps become lighter now that I’ve decided what I’ll look for. This is the beginning of a trip to search for bars of iron. Ten steps out and I find what I’m looking for. Immediately I discover a ho…
21 Sep 2016
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Looking at Freespace through the Windows, Part 3
Vatican Pavilion (Holy See Pavilion) Andrew Berman Curators: Francesco Dal Co (Architectural Historian, Professor at Istituto Universitario di Architettura Venezia, and Editor-in-Chief of CASABELLA), …
20 Nov 2018
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America (2)
French and German Traditions The French who had settled Quebec to trade fur descended south along the Mississippi River and founded New Orleans in Louisiana, while Germans in Pennsylvania settled area…
28 Feb 2017
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Looking at Freespace through the Windows, Part 2
The Arsenale Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura For Mexico-based architect Rozana Montiel, freespace indicates freeing space and actions, or a space for the act of placemaking. She describes archi…
04 Nov 2018
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Movie “The Birth Canal”
,movie “The Birth Canal” ,“Hashirama equipment” is a term used for cultural assets and refers to the entire architectural components between pillars. Specifically, the hashirama equipment …
17 Jan 2017
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Vino Santo in Trentino
Drive a car east from Milan, go north through Verona and you will see the largest lake in Italy, Lake Garda. Continue running north along the lake and you will arrive in Trentino. This is a province l…
23 Oct 2018
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Kibber, India : The Hidden Hole (part 2)
It was cold in the morning so high above sea level. But when I walked out to the third-floor terrace at my inn, I found it surprisingly warm. Yes, the temperature was low, but it nearly felt hot stand…
15 Oct 2018
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America (1)
When we hear the term “American houses”, we may generally tend to think of timber-frame houses that incorporate European styles. But the original American houses were actually built in accordance with…
19 Jan 2017
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Part 5: To China International Window City!
The aperture in Japanese architecture is the “ma,” or “space between objects.” The aperture in western architecture is the “hole.” What is it in Chinese architecture, then? This is a study on the as o…
22 Aug 2018
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Part 2: Jo-an
It seems reasonable to assume that chanoyu, or the Japanese “Way of Tea” established by Sen no Rikyu, was spread and led by sengoku busho or warlords. It is clearly explained by the fact t…
10 Aug 2018
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Kibber, India : The Hidden Hole (part 1)
,Climbing even higher past Kinnaur district in North India, I passed the treeline to find an outstretched land of nothing but brown, rocky mountains. I transferred between local busses while having th…
25 Jul 2018
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You Make a Better Window Than a Door
Fenestration Observations is a series of window disquisitions by Matthew Fargo. In it, the translator of Genpei Akasegawaʼs Hyperart Thomasson probes the city for hidden and forgotten features of the …
18 Jul 2018
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Garlic Window in Vessalico village
Lemon raised under the shining sun; cured ham aged in a rich flavor by growing mold; wine made from grapes raised under well-ventilated pergola. We can see architectures particular to each region with…
19 Jun 2018
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Kinnaur District, North India: The Overhanging Village (Part 3)
I walked back to the home in the small village in order to pick up the pants that had been sewn for me overnight. It seemed that there, the mother wove fabric from wool while the father turned that ma…
15 Jun 2018
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The Window Works at the Existential and Philosophical Level
Windows will never cease to work, change, and evolve. In the final session of this interview series, Yusuke Obuchi speaks with world-renowned architectural critic Jeffrey Kipnis, who has previously ta…
02 Nov 2016
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Architectural Ethnography, Part B
To commemorate the opening of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia (May 26th-November 25th, 2018), the Window Research Institute caught up with architect Momoyo Kaijim…
07 Jun 2018
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Part 1: Tai-an at Myoki-an Temple
Chashitsu or the Japanese tea room was a unique architecture that was built without any expressive ornaments at a time when rich ornamentation was a general trend in architecture. While its main prota…
17 May 2018
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The Window is the Difference between the Life and Death of a Space
There are many things you can understand about a company’s image by looking at the way it makes use of windows and glazing. Hernan Diaz Alonso, who is known as the director of the Southern California …
11 Oct 2016
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Architectural Ethnography, Part A
To commemorate the occasion of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia (May 26th-November 25th, 2018), the Window Research Institute caught up with Momoyo Kaijima, curato…
01 Jun 2018
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Tenjin Sanshi Kojo/Window of the Paper Factory
This is a 90-year-old paper factory in Uchiko, Ehime, that specializes in making Ozu washi (handmade Japanese paper). The paper is made using a traditional technique known as hikinagashisuki. With thi…
26 Apr 2018
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Kinnaur District, North India: The Overhanging Village (Part 2)
Many valley-side settlements located 2-3,000 meters above sea level can be found in the district of Kinnaur. Busses run daily even here in the mountains of North India, a part of the world surely once…
19 Apr 2018
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MOMAT Collection “Windows and Photography”
The Windows and Photography exhibition was held as a part of MOMAT Collection from May 24 to August 7, 2016. Photographer Takashi Homma, who has explored the relationship between photos and windows to…
06 Sep 2016
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Windows and Memories
The artist Leandro Erlich became quite a topic of conversation at this past “Windowology 10th Anniversary Exhibition” with the presentation of his new piece, “Window and Ladder.” We managed to intervi…
12 Apr 2018
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The Maniac Behind The Glasshouse
Kew Gardens is a botanical research institution situated in southwest London, and is home to the world’s largest collection of living plants. Even though I can still recall the many occasions up…
29 Jun 2016
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The scene of brilliant street
,It’s pleasant to take a walk on the city of Paris. The roads which were built in a different reason and in a different era are crossing. Walking the street, I can find buildings, cafes and shop…
13 Jun 2016
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Part 4: Postmodern Windows that Symbolize Liberation
The aperture in Japanese architecture is the “ma,” or “space between objects.” The aperture in western architecture is the “hole.” What is it in Chinese architecture, then? This is a study on the as o…
10 Apr 2018
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Tove Jansson’s Window
Photographer Takashi Homma introduces some compelling windows spliced between his own photos and text. Part 1 of this series delivers five photos – one of which is never before seen – plus an exclusiv…
06 Sep 2016
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The Overhanging Village : Kinnaur District, India, Part 1
,In the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is a region inhabited by people known as the Kinnauris. It is a high-elevation region located in the northwest Himalayans, with the Tibet Autonomous R…
14 Mar 2018
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Into the Depth of the Window
The end of summer time, like the morning air which feels more and more crisp as the days go by, is one of those things that remind me of the coming of the long winter season. This “summer time” is a s…
08 Mar 2016
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Exhibition “Present State(ment)”
“En: art of nexus” is the theme of the Japan Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2016, one of the world’s largest modern architecture festivals. How are …
27 May 2016
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Boundary Window
“En: art of nexus” is the theme of the Japan Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2016, one of the world’s largest modern architecture festivals. How are …
27 May 2016
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la fenêtre à la française
Six years have passed since I arrived in Paris. Although my daily life has been changing and evolving every moment, Paris has kept the skyline since it has been built. The scenery of the small windows…
17 Sep 2015
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Tracing the urban brickscape
As surprising as it may seem, I feel that the true quality of a city such as London lies in its “disorderliness”. Within the city, countless elements with various historical backgrounds coexist; their…
17 Sep 2015
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The Red Earthenware Bowl: Eastern Tibet, Ser thar, Part 2
I descended to the center of Larung Gar, where it seemed a lecture or assembly had just ended, as priests were entering and leaving the building one after another. The sight of people wearing the same…
07 Dec 2017
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Part 3: Apertures for Walking Through
One way to use an aperture is to pass physical things through it. In most cases apertures are installed at the border between an inside space and outside space. Through them people and things go in an…
15 Nov 2017
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The Red Earthenware Bowl: Eastern Tibet, Ser thar, Part 1
,I boarded a bus in Chengdu, the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan, and headed toward eastern Tibet. My destination was the Nyingma Buddhist sect’s Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, located i…
01 Nov 2017
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Thinking about Windows through Photography
Contemporary photographer Takashi Homma held a conversation on the theme of “Thinking about Windows through Photography” with his long-time acquaintance, architect Yoshiharu Tsukamoto. The session sta…
17 Dec 2014
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Part 2: Apertures for View
Apertures have many purposes of uses. They are used as light sources, as ventilation, and as portals through which people pass. In each of these examples, they are opened to allow some physical thing …
18 Oct 2017
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A Desert Below Sea Level—Turpan, Part 2
I came across a group of grape-drying huts on a hill just off the settlement. These huts I had seen the day I arrived in Turpan while taking a bus to my nearby accommodations some 10 hours after an ex…
22 Mar 2017
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Windowology 10th Anniversary Exhibition: The World Through the Window Now Open
Enjoy the full breadth of window culture at YKK AP’s Windowology 10th Anniversary Exhibition: The World Through the Window Now Open ,A showcase of the knowledge and appeal of windows from all times an…
28 Sep 2017
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Shizuka Yokomizo + Takashi Homma The Origin of the Idea
One of artist Shizuka Yokomizo’s emblematic works is her Stranger series, in which she has used photography to capture the distance between herself and others across windows. The artist’s personal exp…
26 Sep 2016
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YKK AP Windowology 10th Anniversary Symposium: Windows Represent Civilization and Culture
Tuesday, October 3, 2017 @ Spiral Hall (Minato-ku, Tokyo) A 9-hour academic symposium centered on windows ,Featuring 27 participants from around the world, including architects, photographers, anthrop…
28 Sep 2017
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Part 1: Apertures for Light
Fleeting and weak though it is, light in Scandinavia has a mysterious kind of allure to it. Could it not be that the peoples of Scandinavia worship the light of the sun precisely because it fades so e…
20 Sep 2017
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High-rise condos and windows—from functionality to scenery—
The Attractiveness of A View Partial Ocean View, Ocean View, Ocean Front. If, upon hearing these words, you know what they are referring to, it is probably safe to say that you enjoy traveling. This i…
22 Aug 2019
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Societies and Fluctuations in Numbers of Windows—Some thoughts on the Question of “windows” During Times of Change
Societies with an Increase in Windows as the Modern The era of modernity was also the era of the window. As populations rose and production forces grew stronger, building environments trying to accomm…
25 Jul 2019
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YKK AP presents Windowology 10th Anniversary Exhibition: The World Through the Window
Thursday, September 28 – Monday, October 9, 2017 (public holiday) @ Spiral Garden, Minato-ku, Tokyo A confluence of academic research and contemporary art themed on windows Participants include archit…
10 Jul 2017
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Opening the Window and Greeting the World
“Windows are the most important element in architecture” says Michele De Lucchi, one of the most renowned architects / designers in Italy. He worked as a prominent figure in “Memphis” led by Ettore So…
03 Aug 2016
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Terunobu Fujimori “Holes”
Terunobu Fujimori has been producing highly original architecture that makes use of nature, such as wood, soil, and plants, as exemplified in his works including the Flying Mud Boat, Grass Roof, and M…
15 Jun 2021
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Steel House
“En: art of nexus” is the theme of the Japan Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2016, one of the world’s largest modern architecture festivals. How are …
27 May 2016
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Supported a Symposium “THE SAGA OF CONTINUOUS ARCHITECTURE”
,YKK AP Window Research Institute supported a symposium, Yokohama International Port Terminal Competition 20th Anniversary “THE SAGA OF CONTINUOUS ARCHITECTURE”. ,June 7, 2015 (Sun) 10:00-…
30 May 2015
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Part 3: The Widely Variant Windows of Modern Chinese Architecture
The aperture in Japanese architecture is the “ma,” or “space between objects.” The aperture in western architecture is the “hole.” What is it in Chinese architecture, then? This is a study on the as o…
08 Mar 2018
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Hiroshi Nakamura Windows and Affection
The following interview was held with architect Hiroshi Nakamura, who has been gaining recognition for the numerous projects that he has designed with the theme of creating a sense of affection. We as…
19 Aug 2013
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Vol. 1: Windows in Japanese
Linguist Yasunari Ueda looks into the origins of words that mean “window” from around the world to explore the process through which the concepts of the word have expanded over the ages. Volume 1 in t…
24 Apr 2018
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Part 2: The Gathered Gates and Windows
The aperture in Japanese architecture is the “ma,” or “space between objects.” The aperture in western architecture is the “hole.” What is it in Chinese architecture, then? This is a study on the as …
14 Feb 2018
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Window and Passive Design
Prof. Kodama was spotlighted who has published a multiple number of projects centered on “passiveness,” attracting public notice. He eloquently spoke of the role and attractiveness and further the cha…
10 Jun 2013
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Concept of a Window
Mr. Taro Igarashi interviewed Architect Hiroshi Hara who gave influence and posed problems. The interview was attempted to ascertain the results of human settlement survey and the concept of windows, …
24 May 2013
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Window and Sharing (First Half)
Interviewed are now widely noted architects, Yuri Naruse and Jun Inokuma, who are well known for their project on the theme of “sharing.” The talk is centered on the role and enchantment as well as a …
24 May 2013
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Part 1: The Window in Classical Architecture [The Hole]
The aperture in Japanese architecture is the “ma,” or “space between objects.” The aperture in western architecture is the “hole.” What is it in Chinese architecture, then? This is a study on the as o…
09 Jan 2018
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Experimenting with Windows
The following is an interview with architect Sou Fujimoto, who has designed many internationally recognized projects and continues to propose new possibilities for architecture. We asked him about the…
14 Jan 2014