The project will explore the interaction and interrelation between architectural theory and practice, between architecture and philosophy, and the correspondence of this interaction with its historically specific enabling conditions. It will do so through an inquiry into the work and writings of the pre-eminent 20th-century Japanese architect SHIRAI Sei’ichi (白井晟一; in Japanese names, the surname comes first). SHIRAI (1905–1982) is regarded today as one of the most influential architects of Japan’s post-war era. Nevertheless, despite his significance, he has remained relatively understudied, particularly in Anglo-European academia. Moreover, most existing research in Japanese has focused almost exclusively on SHIRAI as an architect. His contributions to theory and philosophy—and to the philosophy of architecture in particular—have, by contrast, been largely overlooked. This project will result in the first comprehensive study of SHIRAI as both an architect and a thinker.