Heat Flow Design

In the previous issue of our magazine (“Green Buildings”, № 2, 2013), we started publishing chapters from the book “Sustainable Architecture in Japan: The Continuing Challenge 1900 – 2010 & Beyond “, published on the 110th anniversary of Nikken Sekkei. Here we bring to your attention the chapter “Heat”, which deals with modern methods of maintaining the temperature of the comfortable working and living environment.

The Decline of Physicality
In Japanese, “warm” is used to describe physiological sensations and also to describe people’s emotions and personalities. Until a decade ago, “cool” described things that were “intellectual” or “clear-cut” and also things that were “unemotional” or “cynical.” “Warmhearted” and “coolheaded” were used contrastively. Today, however, “cool” has lost its negative connotation. Moreover, “cold” has lost its association with bodily sensations, and is frequently used in visual assessments.

Will “warm” also lose its sensory meaning? Has our prioritization of visual culture yielded these semantic shifts? Will the expansion of the visual realm trigger the deterioration of peoples’ bodily sensations? In my opinion, the decline of physicality evidenced by these semantic shifts is a cause for concern.

Full content of this issue you can read here

The full version of the article can be read in our printed issue, also you can subscribe to the web-version of the magazine

Text: Yuisiro Kadama
Materials provided by Nikken Sekkei