Category — Events

Architect Ryuji Nakamura, who always amazes me by his delicate use of materials, has a new piece up on his website. “Puddle” was part of an exhibition titled “Earth: materials for design” that just recently closed at the Miraikan in Tokyo.

Constructed only using cellophane, the piece – and in fact the exhibition itself – was a study on the way designers, considering their day-to-day interaction with materials, conceive the flow of time on our planet.

Via masahiro minami

Related:

• Ryuji Nakamura’s Hechima Chair & Insect Cage
• Blossom by Ryuji Nakamura
• Ryuji Nakamura

I recently discovered Crate Furniture, purveyors of beautiful wooden things, based out of Kagoshima, Japan. I would love to eat out of those wooden bowls. From the picture I can’t figure out how they were made, but those wooden vases are fantastic too.

It just so happens that some of their pieces are on display at Heath Ceramics (in LA) in conjunction with a show featuring products from Playmountain, a design shop in Tokyo. The show began on June 5th and runs through the entire summer (September 5th).If you are in the area you should definitely check it out!

Stunning…stunning graphic design for the “Design To Change The World Exhibition” by Takeo Nakano. I love the use of pictograms as a navigation device in these prints. The show is running through June 13, 2010.

There was a fascinating article in the New Yorker (Sub Rec’d) a few months ago about the stove pictured above.

About the exhibition:
Venue 1: Tokyo Design Hub (5/15 – 6/13)
Venue 2: Axis Gallery (5/28 – 6/13)
Description: After it’s huge success in 2007, Cooper Hewitt’s Design for the Other 90% has taken on a new life in Japan.

Gamers listen up! Beginning May 1st and running through the end of the month, My Famicase Exhibition will return for it’s 3rd year. The exhibition, which was open to everyone from designers and illustrators to housewives and businessmen, invites you to relive your childhood by designing your very own Famicom game label.

Last year’s entries included some humorous titles (see below). And with some pretty well known illustrators joining the mix, such as Yukiko Yokoo – who created the characters for Mizuiro Blood and Taiko no Tatsujin – this year probably won’t dissapoint.

above: from 2009, a game title that reads “Oh, how nostalgic.”

Also participating are Adrien Dufond, flocke design, Tokyo Pistol and Nozomu Furuya. The show will once again be held at Meteor in my home town of Kichijoji! (Gmap)

Related:

• Honbachi by Tokyo Pistol

The Milano Salone, also known as Milan Design Week, kicks off its annual show next week. I’ve always found this show to be a bit frustrating because there is so much going in so many different venues but I have yet to find a cohesive source of information that provides the basics, ie: who, what, where. So I have taken matters into my own hands: here is a roundup of Japanese designers that will be showcasing new work in Milan.

click images to enlarge
Who: Tomoko Azumi, head of the UK-based Japanese design firm t.n.a. design
What: FLOE tables for Swarovski’s new interiors venture. Taking their cue from floating ice caps of the arctic, the low tables are embedded with several Swarovski crystals and LED lights.
Where: Triennale di Milano

What: Series of furniture for Zilio A&C
Where: Milan Fairgrounds

What: two lamps, Twiggy Lamp and Little Woods, for Japanese lighting company Maxray
Where: Sfera Showroom
source: t.n.a. April 2010 newsletter

Who: Tokyo-based designer Tokujin Yoshioka
What: Following his paper cloud sofa he designed for Italian brand Moroso in ’09, the designer will present Memory, a crumpled aluminum chair for Moroso once again.
Where: Triennale di Milano
source: dezeen

Who: Tokyo-based design firm Nendo
What: Clear Perfume Bottle; an empty perfume bottle in which the perfume is stored in the cap. A visual interpretation of the invisibility that is fragrance. It will be included in their 1% line of products.

What: line chair; possibly the skinniest. chair. ever.
Where: Galleria Antonia Jannone
source: dezeen

Who: Jun Hashimoto and Tatsuo Yamamoto of the Tokyo-based design unit books.
What: Net Chair by Jun Hashimoto (top), molded out of a  single sheet of stainless steel mesh. Mozzarella Chair (bottom) by Tatsuo Yamamoto, made from woven fabric stretched over a 2mm thick stainless steel frame.
Where: Milan Fairgrounds
source: designboom

Who: Shun Kawakami of Tokyo-based design studio Artless
What: hisomu; new collaborative work between Takashi Kawada and balloon artist Rie Hosokai aka Daisy Balloon. Just speculating, but perhaps it will resemble his previous work (pictured above) he has done with Daisy and Kawada.
Where: giuliano Fujiwara / MILANO Store

Who: Tokyo-based product designer Dan Tomimatsu
What: Yoniji (night rainbow); a new lighting project inspired by the optical phenomenon known as a moon halo.
Where: DESIGN SYMPOSIUM XXI

UPDATE (April 8, 2010)

Who: 12 Japanese designers including Oji Masanori, Papier Labo, Yen design and Proof of Guild
What: Thoughts from Japan; An extension of last year’s For Stockists exhibition as seen through the eyes of Italian handbag designer Luisa Cevese.
Where: Luisa Cevese Redizioni

Tokyo Visualist is a joint collaboration by Satoru Yamashita (+81) and Masako Shinn (Graphis). The book explores the work of 32 “cutting edge” artists and designers through interviews and essays by curators including David Elliot (Mori Art Museum) and Sarah Suzuki (MoMA). It attempts to decipher the current for clues on what lies ahead in the future. Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it but if you are in NY on March 2nd they are having an event at the Japan Society that would be worthwhile.

featured artist Tomoko Konoike

featured artist Hideki Inaba

featured artist Kohei Nawa

Kobe Design University recently held their senior exhibition. Designer Masahiro Minami took a trip over and came back with pictures of some fantastic, high-quality work. So many young, talented designers! Here are some of my favorites.
(all images by Masahiro Minami. Click to enlarge)

This is actually the underlay for a bento box; a solution to decade-old problems like leakage and movement. Love the aesthetic!

A wooden bicycle complete with wooden gears. Only a student could come up with something so outrageous.

Rad oversized rings

I’m not quite sure what this is but I love the display.

This 3D cutout must have taken several endless nights.

Of particular interest to me was this futuristic digital camera. It’s a working model that was co-developed by the University. The way it works is you drape it over your neck and take photographs by creating a frame using your hands. Neat!

Tama Art University, commonly referred to as Tamabi, is a prestigious art school – the RISD of Tokyo – that has produced several notable artists and designers, including Naoto Fukasawa and Issey Miyake. Therefore, we like to pay attention to some of the young artists being churned out of this educational system. With less than 1 month till the exhibition, Tamabi’s information design department has launched a website showcasing the work of their graduating seniors. The work will be on display at Modapolitica in Minami-Aoyama from March 12th – 14th. Here as some pieces that caught my eye.
* denotes titles translated arbitrarily by the author

“Subterranean Fear*” by Masaya Noguchi
A proposed redesign of sidewalks the recreates the fleeting sense of fear one experiences when something unexpected appears below their feet.

“Oripica” by Shion Suminokura
When was the last time you made origami by folding light?

“Calorie Trade Project” by Yoshie Takahashi
An En-Chari (Entertainment-Chrity) project that allows the user to reallocate their own calories to children in Kenya.

“Multiple Perspectives of the Pacific War*” by Mayu Fujimaki
A computer-based reenactment of events of the Pacific War. The user, as he or she engages with the system, is prompted to view events of the war from multiple perspectives.

Related:

• Tamabi’s BFA show from last year

Planning on checking out the Tokyo 69th International Gift Show starting tomorrow and continuing on through the end of the week? Be sure to check out the Takahashi Kogei booth where designers Oji Masanori and Rina Ono will be showcasing their respective new works.

From Oji Masanori: KAMI dishes, a new addition to the KAMI line of paper-thin wooden cups. To be used as coasters, lids or whatever you want, really. Also, the Kakudo wooden butter cases.

From Rina Ono: The wooden desert cup and goblet.
Wood is horrible at conducting heat, which makes it ideal as a container for cold deserts because you don’t get condensation!

Related:

• Baby In Table by Oji Masanori
• Cowakka by Rina Inao

Earlier this week the 100-day mark was breached, counting down to the start of the 2010 Shanghai EXPO. Japan unveiled their pavilion awkwardly titled “Eco-Breathing Architecture.” I twittered about my dislike of the structure and received a bunch of feedback confirming that I was not alone in my thoughts. So I thought I would post the pictures here to see what others thought. In short, I think it looks like a blob of protoplasm, greedily consuming everything in its path. Not a very sustainable vision. More pictures over at Nikkei Kenplatz.(login required)

Images © JETRO

It was designed by Yutaka Hikosaka, of Space Incubator, an architectural and environmental design firm. He was responsible for the Nagakute Japan Pavilion (Aichi EXPO 2005) and the Dairinkai Water Fantasium (Osaka EXPO 1990).