Tokyo Designers Week

Updated on Dec 01, 2023

Edit

Comment

Tokyo Designers Week is an annual design event that takes place at Meiji Jingu Gaien in central Tokyo, Japan. The event features product design, interior design and has expanded to include art and graphic design as well as short films.

Location

Since 2005, Tokyo Designers Week has been held at Meiji Jingu Gaien, near Gaienmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. Before 2005 the event was held on the artificial island of Odaiba in Tokyo bay.

History

Tokyo Designers Week began life as a trade show for interior and product design, taking inspiration from trade shows like Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy. In recent years the show opened to the public and added extra categories to include all aspects of art and design.

Tokyo Designers Week 2010

2010 was the 25th anniversary of the event. TDW attracted designers and visitors from Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Taiwan, UK, USA, and across Japan.

Creative direction

For the first time Tokyo Designers Week 2010 was guided by a single creative director, the Tokyo-based French designer, Gwenael Nicolas. Building upon previous years eco and “Green” themes, the philosophy of the show changed in direction to include a broader view of “Environmental design” signified by a change in color to “Blue”.

Show dates

TDW was held from October 29 to November 3, despite a typhoon striking Japan, the event only closed for one day.

Environmental design categories

Earth, featuring collaborations with charities such as WWF

Heart, featuring art installations

Living, featuring cutting edge product designs

Sections

Student graphic design competition based on WWF red-list of endangered animals

Container exhibition, utilizing recycled shipping containers as temporary gallery spaces

Design Boom shop

Trend Union conference

"Cool Japan", Tokyo conference

Shop exhibition around the Omotesando district of Tokyo. Including a WWF inspired stamp rally.

Student exhibition, showcasing the works of Japanese art and design colleges.

TDW Art exhibition, featuring modern Japanese art including the likes of Takeshi Murakami.

Professional exhibition, where practicing designers could show their works.

Nakadai project, a recycling project involving industrial waste

The New York based Bicycle Film Festival toured Japan as part of TDW, short films were shown at the main event site.

TDW Environmental Design Awards 2010

To promote the broader idea of environment, meaning a lot more than "Eco", two new awards were introduced for 2010; Artist of the year and designer of the year.

Artist of the year 2010: Tokujin Yoshioka

Designer of the year 2010: Thomas Heatherwick

Tokyo Designers Week 2011

Tokyo Designers Week 2011 was initially planned to run from the end of October 27 to November 6, but was cut short due to power restrictions imposed after the March 11 earthquake in Sendai. The event is due to open on November 1–6, 2011.

The overall color theme for 2011 is pink, although much of the content has been altered to show support for relief efforts in tsunami affected areas.

New additions to Tokyo Designers Week 2011 include Student Exhibition Plus, a venture designed to bring young designers and industry leaders closer together.

Tokyo Award, a TV show broadcast in Japan on TV Tokyo, features reports focusing on the event.