Swiss Window Journeys: Architectural Field Notes

A window is a mediating device between our body and the environment: by simply opening or closing it, we can regulate air, light, and sight. Both climatic and cultural conditions, alongside technological developments, shape the architecture of windows. Switzerland’s diverse climate, which results from the Alps’ particular geomorphology and its geographical location at the crossroads of European cultures, has generated a wide variety of window forms.

The collection of windows gathered from field research takes the reader on a tour of the diverse practices of living and working in the country. Full-page hand drawings portray each window as a part of a complex network of elements and a site of knowledge. Short texts offer insight into various historical, technological, and socio-economic conditions of each spatial configuration. Conversations with Swiss architects reveal challenges of window design in contemporary building processes. The book unveils the role of the window as a tool for resourceful living practice and suggests ecological perspectives for its architectural design.

Edited by the Chair of Architectural Behaviorology, ETH Zurich, Momoyo Kaijima, Simona Ferrari, Lena Stamm, and Joel Zimmerli. Designed by Simone Farner and Naima Schalcher. Published by gta Verlag.

Including conversations with Christine Binswanger and Raúl Mera (Herzog & de Meuron), Mario Botta, Gion A. Caminada, François Charbonnet (Made in), Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein, Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer, Silke Langenberg, Peter Märkli, Elli Mosayebi and Ron Edelaar (EMI Architekt*innen).

Swiss Window Journeys: Architectural Field Notes can be purchased at select bookstores and online via gta Verlag or internationally via Idea Books.

An online version of the conversation series is available on the website of the Window Research Institute in Tokyo, Japan.

2023. 21 × 28.4 cm, softcover
224 pages, 531 illustrations
ISBN 978-3-85676-458-6
Text in English

Related programming
Window Walk in Zurich: To launch the publication of Swiss Window Journeys we cordially invite you on a walking tour of notable windows in the city centre of Zurich on Friday, April 12, 2024, 5:30pm—Meeting point: Hallenbad City, Sihlstrasse 71, 8001 Zurich, ca. 2 km, rain or shine. The walk will be followed by an Apéro and discussion with Andrea Deplazes and Laurent Stalder, 7pm, at the bookshop Never Stop Reading, Spiegelgasse 18, 8001 Zurich. Event information.

Talk in Tokyo: A talk with guests Momoyo Kaijima, Chie Konno, and Fumiko Takahama will take place on Saturday, June 22, 2024, 3pm to 4:30pm at the Architectural Institute of Japan, 26-20, Shiba 5-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Language: Japanese. Further updates on the event will be posted on the website.

Swiss Window Journeys: Architectural Field Notes was realized with the financial support of the Window Research Institute in Tokyo, Japan. 

The Window Research Institute is a public interest incorporated foundation engaged in research activities and cultural projects based on the theme of windows. Making a pillar of its activities by providing grants to individuals and organizations and producing exhibitions, symposiums, and publications, the Institute has explored the role that windows play in society for more than a decade.