Research Approach
Transforming Environmental Phenomena into Spatial Experiences.
Environmental Phenomena
The natural landscapes we experience are dynamic phenomena that emerge through the interaction between light and the environment. The changing colors of a sunset and the shimmering light on the surface of water arise through processes such as scattering, refraction, and reflection, continuously transforming our perception of space. These phenomena remain in constant flux, shaped by time, weather, and environmental conditions. Rather than existing as fixed forms, they can be understood as events that continually emerge through the relationship between light and the environment.
Context
Architectural space has historically been shaped through a close relationship with light, atmosphere, and environmental change. Through experiencing the architecture of Alvar Aalto, Juha Leiviskä, and Peter Zumthor firsthand, I became interested in how light and atmosphere can act not merely as decorative elements, but as forces that influence spatial perception and bodily experience. These experiences led to an interest in how the environment itself can become an active force in shaping space. In this research, environmental phenomena such as light, wind, water, and atmosphere are understood not as a backdrop to space, but as active forces acting upon architecture. By observing and experimenting with the structures and conditions inherent in these phenomena, and translating them into space through materials and structures, I explore the process through which environmental forces become perceived as bodily spatial experiences.
I also focus on the imaginative processes found in the Japanese garden tradition of mitate. Using existing things as cues, mitate allows meanings and landscapes beyond what is physically present to emerge through imagination, transforming them into sensory experiences. I consider this mode of kū, or “emptiness,” in relation to the transformation of environmental phenomena into space, exploring the spatial experiences that emerge between natural phenomena and architectural structures, and between human perception and imagination.
Research Question
How can architectural apparatuses amplify environmental phenomena and bring them forth as bodily spatial experiences?
Research Framework
Environmental Phenomena
Light
Wind
Atmosphere
Water
Architectural Apparatus
Structure
Material
Optical Systems
Spatial Configuration
Environmental Amplification
Reflection
Refraction
Air Movement
Diffusion
Bodily Perception
Movement
Sensory Awareness
Embodied Presence
Temporal Perception
Spatial Experience
Atmospheric Space
Spatial Depth
Environmental Presence
Environmental Change
Feeds back into the perception of environmental phenomena
Method
This research proceeds through an iterative process of observation, experimentation, and prototyping. Field studies in architectural spaces are conducted to document how light, wind, and weather conditions affect spatial perception. Through observations of natural environments, the behavior of light and wind is examined as a basis for developing and testing apparatuses that amplify environmental phenomena. Experiments with materials and optical systems investigate phenomena such as reflection, refraction, diffusion, and air movement, examining how environmental forces can be modulated. The findings are then translated into architectural apparatuses through 3D modeling and physical fabrication. These apparatuses are further tested through bodily movement and sensory engagement, exploring how the resulting phenomena can be experienced as spatial perception.
Field Investigations (Built & Natural)
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Material / Optical Experiments
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3D Modeling / Drafting
↓
Prototyping
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Fabrication & Assembly
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Atmospheric Spatial Experience
Architectural Survey
Environmental Observation
Material / Optical Experiments
3D Modeling / Drafting
Prototyping
Fabrication & Assembly
Contribution
This research proposes an architectural approach that transforms environmental phenomena into spatial experience. Through the development of architectural apparatuses and practical experimentation, it examines how environmental phenomena such as light, wind, and atmospheric movement can emerge as forces that shape space. In doing so, architecture is understood not as a static form, but as a dynamic environment that emerges through the interaction of the body, atmosphere, and constructed systems.
1989
Early Sensory Experiences
Born in Gifu, Japan, and raised in Chigasaki from around the age of ten. Encounters with nearby forests, rivers, the sea, and Shinto shrines nurtured an early sensitivity to environmental phenomena such as wind, sound, temperature, and atmosphere. Frequent moves during childhood also drew attention to the architectural spaces around him, and by around the age of nine, he had begun to envision becoming an architect. The sensory awareness cultivated through experiencing different environments firsthand would later become the foundation for his spatial inquiry.
Milestone: Early Sensitivity to the Environment
2012
The Beginning of Spatial Inquiry
Graduated from the Interior Design program at Tokyo Designer Gakuin in 2010, where he studied the fundamentals of commercial spatial design. After a period of exploring possible career paths and preparing independently, he entered the Department of Environmental Design at Tama Art University in 2012. From this point, his interest in perception within architectural space and environmental phenomena deepened, leading him to regard space itself as a subject of inquiry.
Milestone: Beginning of Spatial Inquiry
2013–2015
Discovering Space Through Light
Through encounters with lighting designer Satoshi Uchihara and Zen priest and Japanese garden designer Shunmyo Masuno, his interest in Japanese spatial expressions, including light and mitate, deepened. His lighting work Boundary of Light and Shadow (2013), inspired by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki's In Praise of Shadows, received the Grand Prize at the JIA Lighting Competition for Architects. In the full-scale spatial work MIRAGE CUBE (2015), he explored the relationship between the generation of optical phenomena and spatial perception through a modular structure, creating a space in which the transmission of light and visual obstruction coexist through the use of transparent materials.
Milestone: Establishing Spatial Experiments Through Light
2016–2018
Expanding Spatial Experiments
He entered the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts, where he further developed spatial experiments centered on light. He co-founded and served as director of the spatial art collective Kukan Enshu Kenkyujo, producing several large-scale public installations. In his individual work SKY PATH (2018), he explored spatial perception through the relationship between material, structure, and the body, using optical phenomena generated by natural light as a starting point. His research expanded from experiments focused on individual optical phenomena toward practices that addressed the spatial environment as a whole, including the bodily experience of those who inhabit it.
Milestone: Expanding Toward Bodily Spatial Experience
2018–2020
International Inquiry and Ripple
He entered the doctoral program in Design at Tokyo University of the Arts and conducted field research across Europe, based primarily in Malta. His encounter with the spatial experience of light at Peter Zumthor's Bruder Klaus Field Chapel became an important point of departure for considering the relationship between the environment and the body. In Ripple (2020), he treated environmental phenomena such as light and wind as compositional elements of space, exploring the relationship between natural phenomena and bodily spatial experience. He received his Ph.D. in Design, establishing a foundation for approaching environmental phenomena as subjects of spatial research.
Milestone: Forming a Method for Researching Environmental Phenomena
2021–Present
Developing Architectural Apparatuses
He continues his research in the field of architecture at Tokyo University of the Arts, working across structural experiments and environmental spatial systems. He also co-founded the artist duo OSOTO Lab., pursuing artistic practice and research in parallel. Through residencies and field research in Finland since 2023, he has closely observed architectural spaces by figures including Juha Leiviskä and Alvar Aalto, reconsidering the relationships between light, wind, atmosphere, and architectural space. Today, his practice involves observing and experimenting with the structures and conditions of environmental phenomena, and translating them into architectural apparatuses. Through these apparatuses, he develops both theoretical and practical approaches for transforming environmental phenomena into bodily spatial experiences.
Milestone: Integrating Theory and Practice
Selected Publications
2025
Nishi, Takatoku.
“Transforming Environmental Phenomena into Embodied Spatial Experience through Apparatus Architecture: A Case Study of Ripple, a Site-Specific Installation.”
Advanced Design Conference 2025 Proceedings.
ISBN 978-88-97977-94-0.
2021
Nishi, Takatoku.
“Phenomena of Light and Atmosphere — 光が織りなす現象と空気感.”
Doctoral Dissertation, Tokyo University of the Arts.
Degree No. 12606-Kou-1033.