Tokyo Midtown
DESIGN TOUCH

A set of colorful installations emerges in the Grass Square. The three structures may just appear like a collection of panels randomly gathered, but the viewer may discover that they are not just “random” - the panels are actually carefully calculated to form particular “figures” if you carefully look around. Be it concrete or abstract, nothing in this world can be fully encapsulated by a single meaning or name. The more we observe, the more meaning and interpretation emerge. Anyone can be a giver of name and meaning of any objects, and you can experience it through this installation.

Grass Square

10/15 FRI - 11/3 WED

11:00 - 21:00 * Cancelled in the event of bad weather

Three colorful, slightly strange flags will appear among the trees in Midtown Garden. Look at the front carefully and maybe you'll notice there’s something hidden. Go round and look at the back, and you’ll see there are some letters hiding there. Feel the fascination of form while seeing what part of the picture comes from the letters on the back, and savor the sweet moment when you find it.

Midtown Garden

10/15 FRI - 11/3 WED

11:00 - 21:00 * Cancelled in the event of bad weather

In the light-filled atrium, you’ll see countless “windows” given form by the very latest in 3D printers. Inspired by architect Antoni Gaudí, YKK AP and Keita Suzuki have designed prototype windows of the future with a variety of functions, materials, and forms, all in harmony with nature. This is a collaboration between architects such as Kengo Kuma and Klein Dytham architecture, emerging creators, multiple companies, and experts from many genres, countries, and industries! Behind the scenes of ever-evolving design lie technological progress and the abundant creativity and passion of many cocreators. The future is a place of infinite possibilities. In a future where everyone can freely design their own ideal window, what would yours be like?

Atrium

10/15 FRI - 11/3 WED

11:00 - 21:00

* Special site
https://www.ykkap.co.jp/consumer/satellite/sp/window-future/en/

In “L.F.M.” (leather fiber molding), shavings from the reverse side of leather that would otherwise be thrown away are molded into solid forms. This process was named by Ikeda and Kurashima, who studied (and experimented with) molding leather offcuts into solid shapes and discovered that the key was to bind them together with natural rubber. Exhibiting it together with some finished products reveals the whole series of processes leading from “Behind the Scenes of Design” all the way to its “front.”

Galleria 3F, in front of IDÉE SHOP / IDÉE CAFÉ PARC

10/15 FRI - 11/3 WED

11:00 - 21:00

Using Toyama Prefecture’s abundant resources and technology, these three works have been made from three different materials: sponge cucumbers, Iwasaki stone, and glass. Inspired by the designer’s thrill on seeing the materials, they represent beauty and excitement, and add new value to Nature’s blessings from long ago. See how that thrill developed into some creative works.

Galleria 2F, in front of Aesop

10/15 FRI - 11/3 WED

11:00 - 21:00

This is a collaboration project by Tama Art University Bureau and Exhibition “Rules?,” which is currently being held at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT. “Assignment work” is a teaching method that’s unique to art universities. Do the assigned themes themselves serve as rules (constraints) aimed at broadening creativity? Adopting that perspective, the project looks at how “design under constraints” inspires creativity, and thinks about what lies “behind the scenes of design.”

Tama Art University Bureau

10/15 FRI - 11/3 WED

11:00 - 18:00