Naoto Fukasawa

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Naoto Fukasawa
深澤　直人
Naoto Fukasawa.jpg
January 2012
Born1956 (age 64–65)
Kōfu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Alma materTama Art University
OccupationIndustrial Designer
Websitehttp://naotofukasawa.com

Naoto Fukasawa (深澤 直人; born 1956) is a contemporary Japanese industrial designer, author, and educator,[1] and works within product and furniture design. He is most well known for his product design work with the Japanese retail company MUJI and companies such as Herman Miller, Alessi, B&B Italia, and Magis.

Biography[]

Fukasawa was born in Kōfu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan in 1956. At a young age, he was inspired to study product design from a magazine that introduced professional jobs.[2] He graduated in 1980 from Tama Art University with a degree in product design.[3][4] After graduating, Fukasawa worked as a product developer at Seiko Epson until 1988, before working at ID Two, a predecessor to the design consulting firm IDEO in San Francisco, California and later establishing the IDEO Tokyo office in 1996.[5][2] During this time he collaborated with the English industrial designer Sam Hecht. In 2002, Fukasawa became a MUJI advisory board member and worked on the development of many of their products.[6] After leaving IDEO, he would establish his own independent firm Naoto Fukasawa Design in 2003, focused around design consultation.[6] In the same year, Fukasawa founded the "±0" (Plus Minus Zero) brand of household electrical appliances and sundries, focused around the design of goods that are seen as "just right".[7] In recent years, he has released a host of new works with Italian companies B&B Italia, , Magis, Artemide, Danese, and Boffi, as well as in Germany and Northern Europe, and have garnered a great deal of attention.

As of 2012, he is one of the co-directors of 21 21 DESIGN SIGHT, Japan's first design museum.[8][9][10]

Fukasawa previously taught at Musashino Art University. Since 2014, he has taught Integrated Design at Tama Art University as a professor.[3]

Many of his works are included in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) including, MUJI's Wall-mounted Compact Disc Player (1999), Neon Cellular Phone by KDDI Corporation (2005), and Infobar Cellular Phone by KDDI Corporation (2003).[11]

Fukasawa has been described by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the world's most influential designers.[12]

Design Approach[]

Naoto Fukasawa's design approach is centered around the relationship between design and behavior, using terms such as "design dissolving in behavior", "center of conciousness", "normality", "outline" and "archetype" to describe his approach.[5] His approach relies on observing how people act and react everyday and finding solutions in these behaviors that link the design to the person. In his 2018 monograph, Fukasawa describes design as "attributing countenance to an object", in which the design is accompanied by the environment and the context. [13]

Fukasawa coined the term "Without Thought" as a philosophy for how design can be found in people's unconscious behavior. [5] Without Thought refers to how objects can feel important when seen for the first time, but only have their initial essence realized when being used. Ever since creating the term, Fukasawa has organized workshops to share his approach to other designers.

In 2006, Fukasawa curated the exhibition Super Normal alongside English furniture designer Jasper Morrison to define 'Super Normal', presenting 200 objects that were ordinary or anonymously designed devoid of gimmicks or branding.[14] Items presented in the exhibition ranged from notable objects such as the Bialetti espresso maker to anonymously designed and mass produced objects such as disposable plastic plates. The term defines objects as being absent of identity, originality, and elements that leave an impression, leading to objects that appear ordinary. This design concept can be seen reflected in Fukasawa's work with Muji, where products are created with an anti-branding approach of not presenting any traits that characterize the object.

Select awards[]

Fukasawa has won over fifty awards, including the American IDEA Gold Award, the German iF Gold Award, the British D&AD Gold Award, the Mainichi Design Award and the 5th Oribe Award.

Select Exhibitions[]

  • 2006, Super Normal, curated by Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa at Axis Gallery, Tokyo, Japan[18]
  • 2016-17, The Boundary between Kogei and Design at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary art, Kanazawa[19]

Works[]

Naoto Fukasawa has consulted and designed for several companies, ranging from home appliance retailers to furniture manufacturers. Companies that he has designed for include:

KDDI/au[]

  • INFOBAR Cellular Phone, 2003[11]
  • INFOBAR 2 Cellular Phone, 2006[20]
  • neon Cellular Phone, 2006[21]
  • INFOBAR A03 Smartphone, 2015[22]

±0 (Plus Minus Zero)[]

  • A Light with a Dish, 2003[23]
  • Wire frame Houseware, 2010[24]
  • Toaster, 2007[25]

MUJI[]

  • Wall-mounted CD player, 1999 [26]
  • Refrigerator, 2014[27]
  • Electric Kettle, 2014[28]
  • Rice Cooker, 2014[29]

Samsung[]

  • N310 Netbook, 2009[30]
  • Multi Xpress7 Color Printer, 2015[31]

Maruni[]

  • Hiroshima Furniture Collection, 2010-2016[32]

B&B ITALIA[]

  • Belle and Bull, Chair and Table, 2018[33][34]

Bibliography[]

  • Fukasawa, Naoto (2018). Naoto Fukasawa: Embodiment. Phaidon Press. ISBN 9780714876078.
  • Fukasawa, Naoto (2014). Naoto Fukasawa. Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-0714866031.
  • Fukasawa, Naoto (2005). An Outline of Design. Japan: TOTO Shuppan.
  • Fukasawa, Naoto; Goto, Takeshi; Sasak, Masato (2004). The Ecological Approach to Design. Japan: Tokyo Shosek.

Gallery[]

  • neon (Phone)

  • INFOBAR (Phone)

  • INFOBAR 2 (Phone)

  • IS01 (Smartbook)

  • INFOBAR C01 (Phone)

References[]

  1. ^ "naoto fukasawa interview". designboom. 2004-04-18. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "DESIGN IN MIND: Naoto Fukasawa". Arkitektura Assembly. 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Naoto Fukasawa, Lighting Designer Profile". www.lightology.com. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  4. ^ "Antiques of the Future, Naoto Fukasawa". mydesignlife.com. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Naoto Fukasawa". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Best Practice, Naoto Fukasawa, Product Design". Red Dot. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  7. ^ "COMPANY OVERVIEW | プラスマイナスゼロ" (in Japanese). 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  8. ^ "Art Space Tokyo". 21_21 Design Sight: Tokyo Art Maps. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
  9. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (2007-05-01). "Without Thought". Metropolis. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  10. ^ Prescott, Judith (2009-01-13). "Japanese design comes of age". RFI. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "Naoto Fukasawa | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  12. ^ "World's Most Influential Designers". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Industrial Designer Naoto Fukasawa on His Creative Process". Metropolis. 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  14. ^ Bartal, Ory (2020). "Mujirushi Ryohin and the absence of style". Critical design in Japan: Material culture, luxury, and the avant-garde (1 ed.). Manchester University Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-5261-3997-9.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "Naoto Fukasawa Not Just Winning Awards--Now He's Designing Them". Core77. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  16. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa". www.awmagazin.de (in German). 2011-04-05. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  17. ^ "What Are the G-Mark and Good Design Award?". Core77. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  18. ^ "Jasper Morrison | Super Normal". jaspermorrison.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  19. ^ "金沢21��紀美術館". 金沢21世紀美術館. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  20. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | INFOBAR 2". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  21. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | neon". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  22. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | INFOBAR A03". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  23. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | A Light with a Dish". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  24. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | Egg Carton, Wire Basket, Toast Stand". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  25. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | Toaster". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  26. ^ Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. "Muji Wall-mounted CD Player, designed 1999; manufactured 2013". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  27. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | Refrigerator". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  28. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | Electric Kettle". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  29. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | Rice Cooker". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  30. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | N310, notebook PC". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  31. ^ "Naoto Fukasawa Design | Multi Xpress7, Multi-function Color Printer". naotofukasawa.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  32. ^ Maruni Wood Industry. "Hiroshima". Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  33. ^ "Table Bull -B&B Italia - Design of Naoto Fukasawa". B&B Italia. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  34. ^ "Chair Belle -B&B Italia - Design of Naoto Fukasawa". B&B Italia. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2021-04-14.

External links[]

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