・The Directors
The directors are three designers who are well acquainted with the contemporary situation of design and the creative scene, Issey Miyake, Taku Satoh, and Naoto Fukasawa.
They are continually reviewing program planning with the associate director, Noriko Kawakami.
>>Director Talks
PHOTO : MASAYA YOSHIMURA / NACASA &PARTNERS, Inc.
[Directors Profile]
Issey Miyake
Established the Miyake Design Studio in 1970, and presented his first collection in Paris, in 1973. Since the beginning of his career, Miyake’s philosophy has been to construct garments from a single piece of fabric, and to explore the relationship between a three-dimensional form, such as the body, and two-dimensional cloth. Started PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE in 1993, to make clothes for a contemporary lifestyle that combine functionality and beauty. In 1998, Miyake embarked upon a new project called A-POC (A Piece Of Cloth) with Dai Fujiwara and a team of young designers, to challenge the way in which clothing is made, using a new process to create clothing beginning with a single piece of thread. In 2004 the Issey Miyake Foundation was established. Publications include “Issey Miyake East Meets West” (Heibonsha), and “Issey Miyake Making Things” (Actsud, Scalo, Axis), etc.
Taku Satoh
After working for Dentsu Inc., Satoh established the Taku Satoh Design Office in 1984. He works mainly in graphic design. His past projects include product design for Nikka Whisky “Pure Malt”, Lotte “XYLITOL” chewing gum, and MEIJI “OISHII GYUNYU” milk, visual identities for the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and National Science Museum, Tokyo. He was also involved in a TV program on the NHK educational channel entitled Nihongo de Asobo (Let’s Play in Japanese) as a member of the planning team and art director. Satoh is also the creator of the Dezain no Kaibo (Anatomy of design) project of exhibitions focusing on mass-produced items that up to now have rarely been discussed from a design perspective. Author of the “Dezain no Kaibo” series (Bijutsu Shuppansha), and “A whale was blowing water”(Transart).
Naoto Fukasawa
In 1989, Fukasawa left Japan for the United States where he worked for eight years at IDEO in San Francisco. He returned to Japan in 1997 to establish a Tokyo branch of the company. In 2003 he founded Naoto Fukasawa Design. Industrial design commissions to date include au/KDDI INFOBAR (mobile phones) and a wall-mounted CD player for Muji. Fukasawa has also worked as director on the ±0 (plusminuszero) brand range, and collaborated with major manufacturers on numerous projects in Japan and elsewhere. Fukasawa’s work is highly respected for the way it uses the senses to connect people and objects and enhance the pleasure of those using the product. Publications include “Dezain no Rinkaku (The contours of design)” (TOTO Shuppan), and co-author of “Dezain no Seitaigaku (The ecology of design)” (Tokyo Shoseki).
Associate Director
Noriko Kawakami
After working as editor of the design magazine AXIS, Kawakami began her career as a design journalist and editor in 1994. She was involved in design projects of the Domus Academy Research Center as external editorial director from 1994 to 1996. Books include “Realising Design” (TOTO Shuppan), and co-author of “le design” (Beaux Arts).