Around the Tokyo Station vicinity, Hibiya OKUROJI, situated inside the 300m space under the overpass between Yurakucho and Shimbashi Station, illustrated works worth inspecting. The underpass alley preserved the 100-year-old brick arch from the Meiji era. Restaurants and small retail stores line up along the corridor.

CYUON × Naoto Ogawa (Nomura Co.,Ltd.) “scape fold” (Hibiya OKUROJI) © Nacása & Partners

CYUON, an active brand from Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, that pursues the possibilities of powder coating, and Naoto Ogawa of Nomura Co., Ltd. collaborated to develop a chair prototype with beautiful powder-coated gradation. CYUON impressed contours to the colors by folding a single sheet of painted metal and allowing the color shapes to resemble furniture; therefore, exuding an atmosphere for people to stay in. CYUON works on the application of powder coating for art by providing artists with viable options for expression while it challenges art creativity using the factory’s own technology.

Straft “NEST” (Keshiki) © KOHEI YAMAMOTO

Straft, a craft unit by Tamaki Ishii and Kazuma Yamagami, selected for UNDER 30, staged “NEST” at Nihonbashi Kabuto-cho. The exhibition emphasized the use of rice straw, which has long been revered as an object of prayer, adapted not only for roofs, walls, and daily life tools, but also in Shinto rituals. Their representative work “TORI” projected the inherent Japanese view of nature formed by rice cultivation for the modern age. This perspective sought to coexist harmoniously with nature, and propelled the artist to embracethe essence of spiritual richness needed in contemporary times.

“Inspiration for the Next” (The Conran Shop Marunouchi) © KOHEI YAMAMOTO

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in Japan, The Conran Shop revealed “Inspirations for the Next.” As a pioneer of lifestyle stores, The Conran Shop continues to express the enjoyment and enrichment of daily life through fresh discoveries in items and styling. While looking back on its history, it has reaffirmedits inherited past to motivate the renewal and update of products. Four designers (Akihiro Kumagai, Momoko Kudo, Shigeki Fujishiro and Sera Yanagisawa) aspired to createcontemporary furniture that is uniquely Asian and Japanese. In this issue, they introduce “INSPIRATIONS” of manufacturing, which acts as the foundation for advanced product development.

This year’s DESIGNART TOKYO, set against the backdrop of the beautiful autumn season, featured many ambitious exhibits full of stimulating proposals and values for the future that offered visitors a sense of the changing everyday life after Coronavirus. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event.

DESIGNART TOKYO 2024
Date: October 18th – 27th, 2024
Area: Omotesando, Gaienmae, Harajuku, Shibuya, Roppongi, Hiroo, Ginza, Tokyo
Organizer: DESIGNART TOKYO Committee
https://designart.jp/designarttokyo2024/