designart tokyo challenges norm with moving walls and 3D prints

DESIGNART TOKYO 2025 TURNS THE CITY INTO AN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM

DESIGNART TOKYO, one of Japan‘s largest design and art festivals, returned for 10 days, transforming Tokyo into an expansive exhibition space. Operating across 91 venues throughout Omotesando, Shibuya, Roppongi, Ginza, and other key areas, the festival showcased a diverse collection of international works. Under the theme ‘Brave: Pursuing Instinctive Beauty,’ the 2025 edition celebrated creators who demonstrated the courage to trust their intuition and instincts, challenging the conventional markets. This vibrant display gathered approximately 300 creators and brands and captivated an estimated 250,000 visitors eager to experience the diverse collection of international design, architecture, and art.

banner: DUMB TYPE | WINDOWS © Nacasa & Partners

above: Claire Renard and Jean-Sébastien Blanc | 577 chaises: the citizens’ hemicycle | all images courtesy of Designart Tokyo, unless stated otherwise, image © designboom

10 DAYS SHOWCASING A DIVERSE COLLECTION OF INTERNATIONAL WORKS

The cultural nucleus of the festival was the DESIGNART GALLERY, a large-scale group exhibition housed at the Media Department Tokyo in the heart of Shibuya. Serving as both an information center and talk lounge, this exhibition hosted 33 domestic and international presentations, showcasing creations from countries including France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The space itself was a design statement, with the spatial design overseen for the first time in Japan by Hong Kong-based architectural firm COLLECTIVE. They paid homage to Japanese architecture by creating a modernized Shoji (traditional partition) in the first-floor escalator hall. This installation used reusable aluminum structures covered in non-woven fabric, where modulated lighting synchronized with photographs by artist ZEN to ambiguously connect the interior and exterior.

Swedish furniture brand Blå Station, together with ACTUS, displayed newly released products. ©Takuya Yamauchi

HIGHLIGHTS REDEFINING FUTURE SPACES AND MATERIALITY

The concept of ‘Brave’ was embodied in presentations that pushed the boundaries of architecture, product design, and material usage, moving past conventions to propose entirely new futures. Residential and architectural concepts took center stage with projects fundamentally rethinking living spaces. Daikyo Inc., which rebranded its condominium brand to ‘THE LIONS,’ developed a new project, unveiling ‘THE LIONS | Relation Wall,’ with architect Yuko Nagayama. This project stems from the concept of enhancing life value by fostering new human relationships. The development, aiming for implementation in 2030, featured a live demonstration of a moving wall.

THE LIONS | Relation Wall – THE LIONS 2030 PROJECT ©Takumi Ota

Similarly, LIXIL’s installation, ‘MUINIMULA – Reconstruction of Spatial Components,’ explored new possibilities in the traditionally underdeveloped spatial domains of floors, walls, and ceilings. By introducing the concepts of Mui (natural state, stripped of all artifices) and Mura (diversity), the exhibition aimed to dismantle and reconstruct existing spatial notions, challenging visitors to reconsider fixed ideas.

MUINIMULA – Reconstruction of Spatial Components by LIXIL ©Nacasa & Partners

In furniture and office design, ITOKI Co., Ltd.’s new brand NII made a significant debut with ‘THE STAGE by NII.’ Elevating the office into a vibrant stage, the exhibition featured first collections by four international design leaders: architectural studio AMDL CIRCLE, Todd Bracher, Rodolfo Agrella, and Jun Aizaki/Crème. The space was graphically designed by the creative unit SPREAD. Meanwhile, Danish Royal furniture company Carl Hansen & Søn presented ‘FRAMING COMPOSITIONS,’ showcasing items revealed in Japan for the first time, including swivel chairs and sofas by design masters Hans J. Wegner and Nanna & Jørgen Ditzel.

THE STAGE by NII © OOKI JINGU

Mitsubishi Electric Integrated Design Center debuted ‘The World Spun by Metal 3D Printers,’ an initiative utilizing their advanced metal 3D printing technology. They explored designs achievable only with this method and material properties, resulting in a collection of organic forms that felt surprisingly warm, contrary to the nature of metal.

Mitsubishi Electric Integrated Design Center　©Nacasa & Partners

Finally, the dialogue between design and luxury was explored in a year-long creative collaboration between Range Rover and Klein Dytham Architecture (KDa). Their ‘Range Rover SV Bespoke Installation’ at Tokyo Midtown explored artistry, craftsmanship, and the expression of individuality using the Range Rover SV Bespoke Service, blending tradition, innovation, and architectural imagination. Demonstrating new material potential, Azuma Plywood collaborated with Hakuten to showcase Color MDF, a lesser-known material made from pre-dyed wood fibers, in a continuous space from floor to ceiling to propose an expansion of material choices.

Chromatic Symphony of Landscapes by CYUON and Moriyuki Ochiai

Nomadic proposes a package method, “PACKING FOR THE METHOD, “where cardboard created with a lattice-like cut allows for reconstruction into various shapes, ©Takuya Yamauchi