Japanese Design Culture | from 263 Years of Isolationism to International Influence

About this Travel Course

Course Description

In search of the contemporary global influence of Japanese art and design, we trekked across 7 Japanese cities: Tokyo—the capitol city, Kanazawa, Kyoto—the cultural capitol, Kobe, Awaji, Osaka, and Takamtsu.

We visited the dedicated Art Islands of Naoshima—known for the Benesse Impressionist paintings of Claude Monet—and Teshima, where we experienced the ethereal concrete shell of the Teshima Art Museum. And while in Awaji, we stayed overnight in the Ando-designed Yumebutai Awaji Hotel and toured his Hompukuji Water Temple; a highlight of our experience of his architecture.

This was an exceptional opportunity to experience the best of Japanese design culture with our community of creatives.

Among other exposures, we

Visited:

• The Tokyo Toilet Projects completed this year; 17 public toilets designed by leading Japanese designers
• Anime and Manga in the Akihabara neighborhood of Tokyo, home of Otaku culture
• Harakujo Fashion in the Shibuya neighborhood of Tokyo
• SunnyHills; Kengo Kuma’s masterpiece
• The architecture of Austrian artist, Hundertwasser, le Corbusier, Renzo Piano, Herzog & de Meuron, Raphael Vignoli, and Japanese Pritzker Prize winners Shigeru Ban, Toyo Ito, SANNA, and Tadao Ando, among others.

Toured the offices and discussed the professional practices of:

• NIKKEN, the largest and oldest architecture firm in Japan
• Gensler; the Tokyo office of the largest U.S.-based architecture firm in the world; we will have a conversation with the American-born principal in charge of that office about the cultural differences between project delivery methods of Japan and the United States
• Kokuyo Furniture Company, where we’ll meet with their commercial furniture designers

Explored the collections of:

• 21^st Century Museum of Contemporary by Ryue Nishizawa.
• Nezu Museum 21_21 Design by Tadao Ando and Issy Miyake
• National Art Center by Kisho Kurokawa
• National Museum of Western Art by LeCorbusier
• Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum
• Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum
• Fashion designer, Koshino Hiroko’s House designed by Tadao Ando
• Toyama Glass Art Museum designed by Kengo Kuma and featuring the glass art of RISD alum and emeritus professor Dale Chihuly