TALK

Yamanaka Shunji x Ross Lovegrove
Design Engineer meets Sculptor of Technology

Japan House is delighted to invite you to an evening with University of Tokyo professor Yamanaka Shunji and award-winning British designer Ross Lovegrove. This will be an investigation into these leading practitioners’ acts of making, the importance of drawing, of problem solving and organic design: how profound change may be implemented by moving away from the mechanical to the biological. Trans-cultural communication is increasingly important in today’s global community and this event offers a special opportunity to learn from a dialogue between two significant thinkers in the world of design.

This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Prototyping in Tokyo: Illustrating design-led innovation’. The discussion will be followed by a drinks reception; the exhibition will stay open for guests until 21:00.

About the speakers:

Professor Yamanaka Shunji is the founder of Leading Edge Design and Professor at the University of Tokyo; he is one of the most respected design engineers in Japan, with previous works ranging from wristwatches to railway carriages. Recently, Yamanaka’s projects include beautiful prosthetics and life-like robots that re-examine the relationship between humans and machines. Numerous honours include: the 2004 Mainichi Design Award, the iF Design Award, and multiple Good Design Awards (backed by the Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Infrastructure). His 2010 work, Tagtype Garage Kit, is part of the New York Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection.

Ross Lovegrove is a designer and visionary whose work is considered to be at the very apex of stimulating a profound change in the physicality of our three dimensional world. Inspired by the logic and beauty of nature his design possess a trinity between technology, materials science and intelligent organic form, creating what many industrial leaders see as the new aesthetic expression for the 21st Century. There is always embedded a deeply human and resourceful approach in his designs, which project an optimism, and innovative vitality in everything he touches from cameras to cars to trains, aviation and architecture. Winner of numerous international awards his work has been extensively published and exhibited internationally, and his work is held in permanent collections of various design museums around the world.