| Title |
From System to Environment: Structural Invisibility in the Architecture of Junya Ishigami |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2026.42.8.145 |
| Keywords |
Junya Ishigami; Structural Invisibility; Structural Perception; Environmentalization; Tectonics |
| Abstract |
This study theorizes structural invisibility in the architecture of Junya Ishigami as a transformation in which structure shifts from a legible
system to an environmental condition. Moving beyond the modern paradigm that equates structure with visible rational order, the study
situates Ishigami’s work within a broader reconfiguration of the relationship between structure, space, and environment. Structural invisibility
is defined not as concealment but as a reorganization of structural perception. Through six case studies, the study examines three interrelated
modes of structural invisibility?minimization, dispersion, and environmentalization?and demonstrates that they operate as a continuous
spectrum. The analysis reveals that structural invisibility functions as a design logic through which structure shifts from a system explaining
spatial order to a relational condition enabling indeterminate spatial experience. At the same time, this transformation generates critical
tensions, including the erosion of programmatic clarity and the gap between design intention and perceptual effect. By reframing structure as
a relational and environmental condition rather than a visible organizational system, the study proposes a theoretical framework for
understanding contemporary architecture beyond the opposition between structural expression and concealment. |