Research & Works

Windows on Film

Still from the film “Transition of Kikugetsutei” (2019). Produced by the Norihito Nakatani Seminar, Waseda University. Directed by Kenji Seo.
Still from the film “Transition of Kikugetsutei” (2019). Produced by the Norihito Nakatani Seminar, Waseda University. Directed by Kenji Seo.
Still from the film “Transition of Kikugetsutei” (2019). Produced by the Norihito Nakatani Seminar, Waseda University. Directed by Kenji Seo.
Still from the film “Transition of Kikugetsutei” (2019). Produced by the Norihito Nakatani Seminar, Waseda University. Directed by Kenji Seo.
Still from the film “Transition of Kikugetsutei” (2019). Produced by the Norihito Nakatani Seminar, Waseda University. Directed by Kenji Seo.
Still from the film “Transition of Kikugetsutei” (2019). Produced by the Norihito Nakatani Seminar, Waseda University. Directed by Kenji Seo.
Still from the film “Transition of Kikugetsutei” (2019). Produced by the Norihito Nakatani Seminar, Waseda University. Directed by Kenji Seo.
Still from the film “Transition of Kikugetsutei” (2019). Produced by the Norihito Nakatani Seminar, Waseda University. Directed by Kenji Seo.

In Japan’s wood-based architecture, window-like components installed in the gaps between columns are referred to as ‘hashirama sōchi’ (devices between columns). Specifically, they can take the form of walls or fixtures, such as shōji (sliding translucent screens) and fusuma (sliding partitions). The diversity and dynamism of these intercolumnar elements are considered the source of the richness of Japanese architecture. One example of this is Kikugetsutei, a teahouse which stands beside a pond in the Ritsurin Garden in Kagawa Prefecture. This short film captures the dramatic changes that the building undergoes over the course of a day. The piece was selected for showing at the 2018 International Film Festival Rotterdam.

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Nakatani Norihito Professor, Waseda University / Archiologist

Architectural historian and history engineer, or “archiologist”, known for his unique work. Studies continuities in the landscape and their impact on the present (precedent morphology). Revisited vernacular houses studied by “modernologist” Wajiro Kon and led a project to document their changes. Recently has been researching villages that have existed for 1,000 years (millennial villages). Traveled the world in 2013 to study dwelling cultures along the edges of the Eurasian Plate. Publications include Ugoku daichi sumai no katachi pure to kiyoukai o tabi suru [Moving Earth, Forms of Houses: Travels Along the Plate Boundaries*] (Iwanami Shoten, 2017) and Severarunesu +: Jibutsu rensa to toshi kenchiku ningen [Severalness+: City, Architecture and Human Beings as the Cycle of Things] (Kajima Institute, 2011).

Kenji Seo Architecture Filmmaker

Producing works that focuses on the interaction between architecture itself and its image.

Master  of  Architecture, Waseda University, Tokyo (2016)
Window Research Institute (2016-2017)
Architecture Filmmaker (2017 – )
Instructor at Waseda University (2020 – )