(English follows after Japanese)
金曜日の夜、恵比寿へ「窓のふるまい学 Behavior-ology の可能性」というレクチャーを聞きにいきました。建築家の塚本由晴氏と東京工業大学塚本研究室による『Window Scape 窓のふるまい学』という本の刊行を機に行われたものです。塚本氏は私が最も好きな日本の建築家の一人であります。今年の一月、東京アートポイント計画のレクチャーでもちらっと触れていた「ふるまい学＝Behaviorology」（「ふるまいから見る建築と都市」をご参照下さい。）について、窓という要素から読み解いたフィールドワークを元にお話しされました。
まずは、建築史における窓扱われ方や、窓が地域の特性に縛られる不自由な部分などについて話されました。その後、建築の単なる構成要素を越えた"窓"の範囲は何か、陽の光、木漏れ日の移動、なども窓のあり方として拡張し、人々の経験や生態学の中で窓がどのように存在しているかについて話が広がりました。私は、塚本氏がこのように機能や目的、美的要素などだけでない建築の経験という視点から建築を捉える感性にとても共感を抱いてきました。その切り取り方は、建築の専門家ではない私にもとてもリアリティを感じさせます。中でも、マドリードのとある広場のエピソードは、塚本氏の視点を如実に表したものでした。その広場は車道に面しておらず、人々の話し声や生活の音が周りの壁にバウンドして広場に満ちているような心地よい空間だったそうです。同じマドリードでも全面ガラス張りの建物の、見下ろされているような威圧感に対し、この広場に面した建物は窓と壁の分量がだいたい同じ、というのも心理的に大きく違ったそうです。
このような観点から世界の窓を探訪し、それらがどのように私たちの生活や社会の中で「生きている」かを探ったのがこの『Window Scape 窓のふるまい学』という本です。窓の外と中からの写真、寸法も詳細に記されています。塚本氏によると、言葉の通じない国では身振り手振りで「その窓、とってもいい！（と、まず窓を褒め）オレを、中に、いれて！」とお願いして見せてもらったところもあるとのこと。このエピソードは会場の笑いをさらっていました。実は私はまだぱらぱらとしか見ていないのですが、それだけでも没頭の予感を感じさせるとても魅力的な本です。個人的には窓だけでなく、柱や屋根、さらには社会的な建物、例えば博物館、美術館、病院、工場、ゴミ処理場・・・などにもその研究の幅を広げてほしい！と思っています。
"the Behaviology of windows"
On the friday night, I've been to Ebisu to listen to the lecture called "Behaviour-ology of the Window: Potential of Behaviour-logy" by my favourite Japanese architect, Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and his university lab members. They have just published the book called "Window Scape", which focused on how windows have "behaved" in the architecture around the world. This January, I had also been to listen to his lecture that he was proposing the idea of "Behaviourology" (he made this word that means to search into how things and human beings behave in environment.), so I was excited to expect that his idea would have been expanded and deepen in this book. That night, he talked about architecture from interpretation of the element of windows from the field works from Asia to Europe in this book.
Firstly, he talked about how windows worked and behaved in the surrounded landscape, climate, or people's life in our history. There is one function for windows that they adjust the environment to allow people the comfortable life like taking winds in or shut them out. However, there are limitations that windows are bounded by the environment. Then he told his opinion that windows would be more than just the element and function of the architecture. He referred to the house designed by Louise Kahn as the example of introduction to understand how windows works in architecture. He mentioned the examples such as sunlight or swinging shadow made by woods through the window also offer meanings, and said window would have significant roles to people's experience in the architecture and ecology in the society. I do like how he translates how architectures works in society not only functionally or aesthetically. It gives me some realities in life. I have not an expert of architecture, but as a human being living in this contemporary society, we could not avoid thinking about architecture like where you live, work or amuse. The more, Mr. Tsukamoto always gives me the hints to think about it from his professional point of view and interpretation that even the novice could understand. For example, he mentioned a patio in Madrid. It was surrounded only by the buildings and not faced to the wide road. He said that he felt it was so cosy place. There, people's voice and sound have bound against the walls and the sound filled in the patio softly. He said it was totally different from experience that buildings of glass facade surrounded him. It gave him some coercive atmosphere like being watched down above.
Mr. Tsukamoto and his students have been to many places to observed the windows to see how they "live" in our lives. Then they classified and analysed them from several point of views. In that book, there are photos from outside and inside. Precise sketches and scales are also written. By Mr. Tsukamoto, during field works, they even have been to the countries where they did not understand the languages. The tips were, by Mr. Tsukamoto, making gestures, they told the owners "The window is so cool! (to praise it the first, this is the point), so let us in to look inside!" People at the lecture all bursted into laugh then.
To be honest, I have just skimmed the book yet. Though, I feel there were something so exciting in this book. From my personal interests, I would like to see the further research not only windows, but pillars, roofs. And more, I would like them to expend the research of this architectural behaviology to such as social buildings like museums, art galleries, hospitals, factories, rubbish plants. They must show us the ecological meanings of the architecture.
