A taste of design

“Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies.” Naoto Fukasawa has borrowed a joke by American cartoonist John G. Tullius to introduce “Chocolate”, an exhibition he has curated at 21_21 Design Sight, the new Japanese design mecca, part museum, part centre for research and experimentation, which opened in Tokyo at the end of March under the aegis of the Miyake Foundation.

“Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies.” Naoto Fukasawa has borrowed a joke by American cartoonist John G. Tullius to introduce “Chocolate”, an exhibition he has curated at 21_21 Design Sight, the new Japanese design mecca, part museum, part centre for research and experimentation, which opened in Tokyo at the end of March under the aegis of the Miyake Foundation. The small, two-storey pavilion (with a ground floor and basement level) was designed by Tadao Ando in the city’s central Roppongi district.

Fukasawa, along with Issey Miyake and Taku Satoh, is one of the centre’s directors. Their intentions have been established right from the first exhibition: to look at the world through design. Within the raw concrete walls, the unmistakable hallmark of Ando, 70 works are on show (until 29 July) by around 30 designers from different backgrounds: from the world of fashion (Philippe Baumont-Pagani of Cabane de Zucca), illustration (Ryosuke Uehara+Yoshie Watanabe), photography (James Mollison), product design (Yoji Ishii and Front) and web design (Tom Vincent).

But this is no random choice. Another aim of the programme at 21_21 is to analyse design from different perspectives: design, craft, engineering and business. It goes without saying that in this case the exhibits are based on cocoa, chocolate and similar products. The event’s selection of installations, videos, sculptures and photographs promises to be both tasty and interesting. Elena Sommariva

http://www.2121designsight.jp

A taste of design

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