exhibition design of ‘visual dialogue’ by shigeru ban  image © designboom 

japanese practice shigeru ban architects has designed the exhibition space for ‘irving penn and issey miyake: visual dialogue’ at

21_21 design sight located at tokyo midtown garden. the installation, directed by midori kitamura (president of miyake design studio),
outlines the collaboration between photographer irving penn and fashion designer issey miyake.  
 
cardboard columns, a signature of shigeru ban, welcome visitors into a projection room with paper and wood chairs ‘carta‘ also designed
by the architect, first produced for cappellini in 1998. the video, ‘irving penn and issey miyake: visual dialogue’, directed by pascal roulin,
based on the work of cartoonist michael crawford to visually illustrate the collaboration process between the two artists.
the original drawings used for the animation are placed in the foyer on simple cardboard frames, subtly tying together
the structural components to the presented illustrations. 
 
a 31 meter (101 feet) wall has projections of 148 photographs taken by irving penn of issey miyake’s designs.
for 18 minutes and 39 seconds miyake’s collections appear, not in a chronological order, but rather as a story, visually displaying
the links between the pieces as seen through the eyes of penn. there is no beginning or end. the looping series of images gives the impression
of their timeless work. along the wall is also a sloped black stage, resembling a catwalk, yet faintly reflecting the light from the projections. 
for seating, a collection of UPM ProFi wood plastic composite chairs of different sizes are laid around the room. the series,
‘10-unit system‘, was designed by shigeru ban for artek. he used the flexibility of the components to create benches, stools and chairs of
different lengths to strategically provide a slightly different experience to each user depending on their viewpoint. 
 
the prints and drawings are exhibited along the hallway and lobby of the building by tadao ando. shigeru ban has delicately
combined the classic form of the original structure with the avant garde aesthetic of penn and miyake. 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 2view of projection room in exhibition  image © designboom

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 3 stools from ’10-unit system’ by shigeru ban  image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 4benches placed in front of the virtual catwalk image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 5 seats designed by shigeru ban  image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 6 model of projection room  image © shigeru ban architects 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 7 images displayed outside in various sized frames  image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 8 model of gallery area  image © shigeru ban architects 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 9 cardboard columns leading into exhibition  image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 10 walls and frames were made of cardboard  image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 11 cardboard hallway  image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 12 light modulation occurring through the slits between the cardboard columns  image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 13 video room  image © masaya yoshimura image courtesy 21_21 design sight

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 14 ‘carta’ chairs  image © designboom 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 15 model of video room  image © shigeru ban architects 

shigeru ban: exhibition design of visual dialogue at 21_21 design sight - 16 (left) exhibition poster  poster design by ikko tanaka  image © the irving penn foundation  image courtesy of 21_21 design sight  (right) shigeru ban image © designboom