內容簡介
內容簡介 A comprehensive overview of the Japanese designers, artisans, manufacturers and technologies that have shaped the world of modern design. Marketing points • The first major survey of design in Japan since the Second World War, from furniture to tableware, industrial design to graphics, from reclusive designer-makers to corporate giants. • Tokyo-based author Naomi Pollock has been granted rare access to archives, experts and the designers themselves to provide an unprecedented – and ambitious – insight into the most sophisticated design culture on the planet. • Timed in the year of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, when the world’s eyes will be focused on Japan’s huge contribution to global culture. Deion A dedication to craft and the finest quality of manufacture has been an integral part of culture and day-to-day life in Japan for centuries. For the Japanese, the concept of design is not limited to functionality or materiality, but wholly connected with ancient culture and rituals. In this sense, a chair is much more than what you sit on, a cup more than what you drink from: these objects are to be reflected upon, to be touched and cherished. As mass manufacture of design became widespread in the post-war period, fascinating cross-cultural exchanges began to take place between Japan and the West. In combination with Japanese craft and manufacturing traditions, this gave rise not only to timeless objects of great beauty and usefulness, but innovations in material, form and technology. Far beyond the icons of Japanese design – the perfectly weighted Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, Yanagi’s butterfly stool, the Sony Walkman – the products and objects that have emerged from the country over the past seven decades, few of which were exported, serve to delight and draw admiration. In recent years, a new generation of designers – Nendo, Reiko Sudo – have taken Japanese creativity into entirely new territory, reconceptualizing the very meaning of design. No attempt has been made to present a complete range of Japanese design, until now. Showcasing over 80 designers, hundreds of objects, contributions from both Japanese and Western designers, this volume will remain the definitive work on the subject for many years to come.
