Research & Works
Komiyama Yoh

Windows on Motion

Still from the movie “Index of Window Sounds and Movements” (2019). Researched by Komiyama Yoh. Directed by Okazaki Tomohiro.
Still from the movie “Index of Window Sounds and Movements” (2019). Researched by Komiyama Yoh. Directed by Okazaki Tomohiro.
Still from the movie “Index of Window Sounds and Movements” (2019). Researched by Komiyama Yoh. Directed by Okazaki Tomohiro.
Still from the movie “Index of Window Sounds and Movements” (2019). Researched by Komiyama Yoh. Directed by Okazaki Tomohiro.

Windows are made to be opened in all sorts of ways. Windows in Japan are most commonly designed to slide horizontally, whereas windows in Europe and the Americas commonly slide vertically. The German-born dreh-kipp (turn-tilt) window, which can be tilted or swung inwards using a handle, has been popular for a long time in Europe, but it is rare in Japan. An example of a window named after a country is the French window, which swings open from the middle. Windows are very much cultural products that are tied to the peculiarities of their local contexts. In this exhibit, the various movements of windows are abstracted and expressed through sound and images.

Index of Window Sounds and Movements

For this project, we sought to extract and observe the sounds and movements associated with the opening and closing of windows, in order to shed more light on how we perceive a “window” through our ears and eyes. A Glossary of Window Sounds and Movements is the first research project of “Window Products Inside,” carried out as a collaboration between product designer Yoh Komiyama and the Window Research Institute, with video imagery created by Tomohiro Okazaki.

Research: Komiyama Yoh
Film: Okazaki Tomohiro
Sound Recording & Analysis: Onodera Yui, Matsuo Kenjiro (invisible designs lab)

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Komiyama Yoh Product designer

After graduating from Tama Art University, working in an architectural design firm, and as a product designer for a manufacturer, he established Yoh Komiyama Design in 2011, based in Tokyo and Shanghai, a multidisciplinary firm that offers R&D support for both Japanese and foreign corporations and organizations primarily in the field of product design, develops hardware and services, and handles brand direction. In recent years, the firm has been exploring new forms of craftsmanship and object-making by thinking about the object at hand through protocol and generative approaches and designing a set of rules pertaining to it. Some of his main projects in Japan include the Karimoku Cat series for the furniture company Karimoku, and product design for T Air, the first digital product from Tsutaya Books. His works have been shown at “TC&D” at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Outside Japan, Komiyama has shown his research project “mold” as part of Ventura Projects, at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, at Interni’s “Feeding: New Ideas for the City,” and at the multi-brand boutique Merci in Paris. Awards include the Muji Award Gold Prize, Red Dot Design Award, Design for Asia Award, and Good Design Award.