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Concentrated process: Tokujin Yoshioka and “Honey-pop”
The “honey-comb” chair looks just as it did when it emerged from the factory.
The surface with its innumerable folds stands up and is cut by contrasting smooth curves.
Seen from the side one has the impression of snow-clad mountains with beautiful contours shaping the line of their peaks,
or perhaps of a large glacier. On the other hand, the cross section formed by the open paper “honey-comb”
looks exactly like a bees' nest seen in close-up through a microscope.
Coarse mixes with smooth, the giant with the small.
The coexistence of these two diametrically opposed images makes it difficult to appreciate the scale of this chair.
As one sits down on it, it makes a noise as if one were sitting on a pile of dead leaves.
Looking from above down on the raised sides, one sees the floor surface through gaps in the “honey-comb”,
which moves like a kaleidoscope in coordination with the movement of the eyes.
On the basis of an interview with the designer, Eizo Okada discusses the design of the paper chair “Honey-pop”
designed by Tokujin Yoshioka which was presented at this year's Milan Salone and has provoked interest all over the world.
Eizo Okada, design journalist
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GOOD DESIGN Prize 2002
Moerenuma Park was awarded for the Grand Prize
In the 2002 Good Design Awards, 990 items submitted by 463 companies received prizes,
of which 52 obtained the Gold Prize and other special prizes.
The Grand Prize went to the Moerenuma Park in Sapporo, which was designed by Isamu Noguchi.
This park is located in the east of Sapporo on a reclaimed landfill site,
and Noguchi designed it as a whole in the manner of a single sculpture.
His creation of a high-quality urban environment was highly assessed by the judges.
In this report we take a look at some of the main recipients of this year's Good Design Awards.
Tatsuro Urata, Editor, Design News
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| Feature:Design Poisesis of the 21st Century
Design News has planned a series entitled “Design Poiesis of the 21st Century” in which we introduce several of the world's
currently most noted designers and their work and attempt to forecast the direction of design during the 21st century.
The series is being put together on the basis of a questionnaire sent to 100 leading designers, businesspeople and opinion
leaders all over the world. In this issue we take a look at design in the 21st century through the contributions of 28
respondents excluding those from Japan.
Edited by Design News
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17th Design Open Session
“Design Noir” by Dunne & Raby
The activities of Dunne & Raby were featured in a project in which we took a look at the influence that electrical products and
information devices are exerting on our daily lives. They have exhibited at Hertzaian Tales at the Centre Pompidou,
Weeds, Aliens and Other Stories at the Bowes Museum, d-electrification Centre at Salon 3 in London,
Placebo Furniture, and Design Noir (August, Birkhäuser), and they have also published their work.
The Placebo project is of particular interest with its unusual furniture designs including tables that respond to electromagnetic
waves and chairs that remove static electricity. Bringing items such as these into the home environment throws light
on the psycho-logical relationships established between these items of furniture and families.
Anthony Dunne appeared as a guest at the 17th Design Open Session, at which he responded to a public interview relating to
the design research activities of Dunne & Raby, centering especially on Placebo.
This article describes the talk show that was held in Tokyo on October 4.
Interviewed by Hironori Okubo
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Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization
