DESIGN TOUCH 2022

What is Tokyo Midtown DESIGN TOUCH?

A design based event that has been held since 2007 under the concept of "enjoying design through all five senses."This veritable festival of design brings together designers active both in Japan and overseas, accompanied by some stunning examples of design, imparting in an intimate and dynamically physical way the appeal and possibilities of design.

Design for Sustainable Future

Today, people's lives are changing drastically, and values are being perceived in new ways.What can we do to preserve things that are truly important to us? Tokyo Midtown DESIGN TOUCH 2022 is using design to search for clues to making a sustainable future.

Tokyo Midtown DESIGN TOUCHEVENT REPORT

お知らせ / NOTICE

INSTALLATION

10/14 Fri - 11/3 Thu

01

Sea hammock

Yuko Nagayama

11:00 - 21:00

Grass Square

Cooperation: REFINVERSE Group, Inc., The Japan Net Manufacturers Association, HASHIMOTO INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD., MORITO APPAREL CO.,LTD., Toyooka Kaban, Hyogo Prefecture,Bag Industry Association, DAIKO ELECTRIC CO.,LTD.

Cancelled in the event of stormy weather.A huge installation that looks like small and large waves from afar, measuring about 36 m x 12 m, makes its appearance on the lawn. This hammock resembles an ocean wave when it is stretched out. You can use it to rest and relax however you want. The hammock is made of discarded fishing nets that had been upcycled into yarn. This is an attempt at designing with recycled materials to depict marine debris—a cause of ocean pollution that affects ecosystems—as something that travels, bringing it face-to-face with people. After the exhibit is over, the netting will be reused and reborn as various objects. Sway in the hammock, place yourself within the cycle, and ponder the natural environment.
02

F.A.R.M.-Future Agricultural Rights for Mankind-

ENERGY MEET

11:00 - 21:00

Midtown Garden

Collaborator: Takahashi Yusuke
Cooperation: Nitobebunka Senior high School, Johokusaitama Senior High School, Taiyo Green Energy CO., LTD., Showa Women’s University Department of Environmental Science and Design, Onishi Lab.
Support: YOUBI, 3D Printing Corporation K.K., FROMTO INC.

Cancelled in the event of stormy weather.An experimental installation exploring agriculture makes its appearance at Midtown Garden. Agriculture is a process that controls the cycle of solar energy, carbon, nitrogen, enzymes, and other elements, and transforms them into crops that give us life. This work breaks down the various elements required for agriculture into units. It is designed to let the user easily create their own agricultural cycle by arranging and stacking cultivation spots and energy sources like blocks. By allowing people to try agriculture with their own hands and discover possibilities in urban agriculture such as vertical farming, this work can begin a new form of agriculture.
03

as it is. -equilibrium flower-

TAKT PROJECT

11:00 - 21:00

Midtown Garden

Cancelled in the event of stormy weather.About 2,000 flower-like objects make their appearance in Midtown Garden. This installation lets you observe objects made of special fibers dyed with Tokyo Midtown's plants blooming and resonating with the surrounding environment. The objects are made of an original fabric that hardens when heated. With heat applied to certain parts, the work creates a mysterious expression that is both hard and soft. The end result is man-made, but by finding something that leads it to the ground, it forms a cyclical design that connects it to the environment. It is an enchanted flower field with an expression that cannot blossom anywhere else.
04

Life Beat

CORNER

11:00 - 20:00

Galleria 2F, beside lucien pellat-finet

An installation by a group of five creators from different fields, including a winner of the Grand Prix in the TOKYO MIDTOWN AWARD 2020 design competition. All mammals' hearts beat about two billion times within their lifetime. Compared to humans, the smaller an animal is, the faster its heart rate. Conversely, the bigger an animal, the slower its heart rate. These lights flicker to the rhythm of different animals' heartbeats. An array of lights shine on a large table and walk in one direction, showing us that the cycle of life is impossible with just one species. This work tells us that humans cannot live by themselves, and must interact with many different living things to survive.
05

Salone in Roppongi

YOY

11:00 - 20:00

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

Since 2013, Salone in Roppongi has held exhibitions that focus on installations and gather many creators, including architects and designers who have participated in events overseas such as the Milan Furniture Fair. This will be its first exhibition in three years. Design Studio YOY will be a featured artist, and an exhibit will be held with their new product themed around water.
06

NEWGAMES

Yusuke Mizobata（NOD）

11:00〜21:00

Canopy Square

Cancelled in the event of stormy weather.New games with new rules: this exhibit showcases 3D-printed products created based on fog, a disorderly natural phenomenon. The products' random shapes adapt to their surroundings, and what they do changes based on who's using them. The creator has designed this active, fun experience with game-like products you'll want to keep using, despite the variety of rules they come with. Going beyond the cyclical process of simply reusing items, NOD is focused on a sustainable future.
07

DESIGNART
TOKYO 2022

ambi & STUDIO RELIGHT、Daisuke Yamamoto

11:00 - 20:00

Galleria 2F

ambi & STUDIO RELIGHTThe pieces in this series were created using recycled glass from discarded fluorescent tubes, which were properly treated at STUDIO RELIGHT's factory. The final glass was casted from cast lumps in order to take advantage of the "colors" and "air bubbles" unique to recycled glass. Some pieces were also sand casted. The cast material itself is recyclable, and it also gives the pieces a distinctive look. Each piece is meant to capture a scene from the "sea", the title of the series.

Daisuke YamamotoMost reusable building materials are scrapped, and new ones are continually used to create spaces. This is called "scrap and build." In questioning that concept, we came to focus on one of the materials most commonly scrapped: LGS（light gauge steel）, a framing material. We're now working on a project to create a flowing material cycle with no scrapping involved, in which we first assemble spaces using materials that will remain highly pure via suitable construction methods, and then after dismantling them, we repurpose those materials to make furniture. We're calling the products resulting from that process "FLOW."
08

PLAY SPACE.

11:00 - 21:00

Atrium

-Kando Experience from earth-
Sony will open up new possibilities of creation to creators with new service STAR SPHERE -Space Inspiration Project- which is co-working project with JAXA and The University of Tokyo. Sony plans to launch a nanosatellite equipped with a sony camera. Starting with "Space Shooting Lab" which you can try a shooting simulation of the satellite, we will have a special hands-on space to experience and communicate the joy of creation from space perspectives through interactive exhibits, performances, workshops, metaverse, music and more. Discover your own ways of "playing with space" that you never could have imagined.

https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/starsphere/

CONFERENCE

DESIGN TOUCH Conference

10/28 Fri - 10/30 Sun

Midtown Tower 4F Conference

Booking in advance is required.Only in Japanese.A series of lectures and talk sessions will be held on several themes revolving around design. They will be given by designers and companies from different fields, including creators such as Yuko Nagayama, who participated in Design Touch and worked on installations in the lawn. This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from creators on the front lines of various fields. Feel free to make a reservation and join us.