Naoto Fukasawa. Courtesy of the artist.
Naoto Fukasawa. Courtesy of the artist.
Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
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18
September
2024
|
09:55 AM
America/New_York

Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves

December 13, 2024 – April 20, 2025 
Collab Gallery 219 
  • Wall Mounted CD Player / MUJI. Photo by Hidetoyo Sasaki
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Twelve / Issey Miyake. Photo by Seiko Watch Corporation
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Shelf X / B&B Italia. Image courtesy of B&B Italia
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Grande Papilio / B&B Italia. Image courtesy of B&B Italia
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Hirushima Armchair / Maruni. Photography: Yoneo Kawabe
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Rice Cooker/ MUJI. Image courtesy of Muji
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Bunch / B&B Italia. Image courtesy of B&B Italia
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Cha Teapot / Alessi
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
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September 18, 2024 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is thrilled to announce that on December 12, 2024, Tokyo-based Naoto Fukasawa, one of today’s most influential designers, will be honored with Collab’s 2024 Design Excellence Award during a ceremony at the museum. Collab, the PMA’s affiliate group for modern and contemporary design, presents this annual award, which is now in its 38th year, to design icons in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of design. In conjunction with the award, the PMA will showcase Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves, the first major U.S. exhibition celebrating Fukasawa’s career over the past 25 years.

Presenting fully-realized production designs alongside the studio’s working sketches and models for select projects, Things in Themselves will offer a rare opportunity to explore both Fukasawa’s design ethos—prizing an essential “fit” between objects, users, and their environments—and his creative process. The exhibition will feature a thematic arrangement of works in the PMA’s collection—displayed for the first time—as well as loans from manufacturers and the influential designer’s studio. Things in Themselves will touch on Fukasawa’s unique language of form and his impactful philosophies of design, known as “super normal,” “outline,” “emergence,” and “without thought,” a principle he coined to tap people’s spontaneous behaviors for design insights.

With an approach to functional design that prioritizes ease of use, aesthetic simplicity, and close attention to the ways mundane objects and environments record the traces of our everyday habits, Fukasawa has been an influential force in the design world since forming his eponymous studio in 2003. Best-known for his work as design director of MUJI—the Japanese “anti-brand” consumer goods company—Fukasawa has designed across a broad range of categories and media, from shaping electronics for Samsung’s global market to collaborating with artisan firms on small-batch fine furniture. Illustrating Fukasawa’s design philosophy of longevity, accessibility, and subtle humor over novelty or blatant commercialism, this exhibition will explore the junctures between design, craft, and other forms of everyday art.

Things in Themselves will further present the broad geographic and cultural range of manufacturers with which Fukasawa has worked, examining his design direction for Japanese companies and his active participation in an international design community, having cultivated relationships with major American and European manufacturers such as MillerKnoll, B&B Italia, and Alessi. As a veteran educator, a co-founder of Japan’s first design museum, and director of the Mingeikan (Japan Folk Crafts Museum) in Tokyo, Fukasawa has spent his career probing the relationships between craft traditions, industrial production, and human behavior, incorporating his curatorial and pedagogical thinking into a robust design practice. Surveying his prolific career, this exhibition will honor the importance of his design philosophies for the future of the field.

“Naoto is already highly respected for the subtlety and beauty of his work,” said Colin Fanning, the PMA’s Assistant Curator, European Art, “I am particularly excited for the opportunity this exhibition represents to explore his thoughtful, user-focused approach to design and his long-running emphasis on the ethical as well as the creative and economic responsibilities of industrial designers.”

“Naoto can best be described as a designer’s designer,” said Eileen Tognini, co-chair of Collab. “Both in his approach and his philosophy towards design, Naoto has had a significant impact on recent generations of designers around the world. We’re thrilled to honor him as this year’s Collab Design Excellence Award recipient.”

Support
Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves, the 2024 Collab Design Excellence Award exhibition, is made possible by The Lisa S. Roberts and David W. Seltzer Endowment Fund in Support of the Collab Design Excellence Award Exhibition. Additional support provided by Collab.

 The 2024 Collab Design Excellence Award is sponsored by Amuneal, Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust, B&B Italia, Eileen Tognini Design, Haworth, Marguerite Rodgers Interior Design, Millésimé, Minima, and Rago/Wright.

Curator
Colin Fanning, Assistant Curator, European Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art

About Naoto Fukasawa
Naoto Fukasawa (b. 1956, Japan) graduated from Tama Art University’s Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries for seven years, Fukasawa then returned to Japan in 1996 to establish IDEO’s Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 with the founding of NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN.

Currently, Fukasawa designs for a wide range of leading brands in Italy, Germany, America, Switzerland, Spain, China, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Portugal, Bosnia, Sweden, and Finland, as well as consulting and designing for Japan-based companies. His designs span a variety of fields, from precision electronic equipment to furniture, interior spaces, and architecture. Fukasawa is also Director of The Japan Folk Crafts Museum, is a vice president at Tama Art University, and one of the directors of 21_21 Design Sight. He also sits on the design advisory board of Muji and is the art director of Maruni. Fukasawa was the Good Design Award chairman from 2010 to 2014 and was on the judging committee of the Braun Prize in 2012. In 2017, he became a member of the judging committee for the Loewe Craft Prize. He has been accorded the title of Royal Designer for Industry (Royal Society of Arts), and in 2018, he was awarded the Isamu Noguchi Award.

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org. 

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Media Contact
Maggie Fairs
VP, Communications
Philadelphia Museum of Art
E: maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org
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