HS17
WINDOW BEHAVIOROLOGY IN KANAZAWA MACHIYA, JAPAN
A window is the architectural element behaving between/with human and nature, and it can be regarded as a culture of building typology. This year, we particularly focus on designing windows, learning and finding their meanings in terms of Architectural Behaviorology. Our study field in the autumn semester is Kanazawa in Japan, a traditional castle city originally constructed 500 years ago. Kanazawa has kept a special housing typology called 'Machiya' (Townhouse), which has been gradually transformed and customized with special manners, incorporating local people’s needs/desires in each period. In the design studio, the students explore and visualize the actor network of window and Machiya with an ethnographical approach. Then, by drawings and models, the students propose an updated Machiya-type architecture with reimagined windows, for a better future of Kanazawa.
