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Published on November 25, 2007

While design lovers in Bangkok were still scratching their heads trying to find the newly located Thailand Creative and Design Centre (TCDC), their counterparts in Japan were surrounded by cutting-edge shapes and inventions at the recent four-day Tokyo Designer's Week 2007 - the largest and most popular design event in Japan.

Attracting more than 100,000 visitors, with over 1,000 designers joining the companies, schools, embassies and media that participated, the 22-year-old event held during the first week of this month showcased the talents of Japanese designers as well as innovations from around the world. Designs were various but they all had one thing in common - the cool factor!

The main venue, the Meiji Shrine Outer Gardens in the heart of Tokyo, was divided into various sections.

Located in the main marquee was 100% Design Tokyo, the event's centrepiece, and sister to a famous annual trade show in London. Visitors were greeted outside by the official logo, a giant red "Love Button" that towered over us like Mickey Mouse, setting the tone for this Disneyland for design lovers.

100% Design London was originally established in 1995, growing from a small marquee in Kings Road to become one of the most influential contemporary interiors and design events.

100% Design Tokyo launched a decade later with a collaboration between the Design Association of Japan, who have run Tokyo Designer's Week for the last 20 years, and Reed Exhibitions, who every year run more than 450 international exhibitions, including the 100% Design in London.

This year in Tokyo, Michael Young, a celebrated British-born designer, took the helm as creative director. His flair for technically rigorous but humorous products extended beyond the Love Button to a "sex toy" chandelier that decorated the main entrance to the marquee.

The same massive tented space also housed Designboom Mart, a group exhibition of more than 30 design businesses from around the world, including Gumption Design from Thailand. Organised by the popular online design website Designboom.com, the showcase took the form of a bazaar where designers offered "design originals" at anything from a few hundred to ¥15,000 (Bt4,400).

A must-see at Designer's Week was the Container Ground exhibition, another regular highlight of the event. Empty cargo-ship containers were arranged into a unique exhibition site, a labyrinth of rooms and staircases giving more than 60 firms and design schools a chance to display their ideas.

On the rooftop of the Container Ground, more than 600 creations from some 60 schools were presented under the theme "street furniture for environmentally friendly parks". Here you could browse future designers' fresh ideas for recycling. Worn out items were transformed into trendy, useful designs: what was once an old tyre became a colourful garden chair, discarded newspapers a light but sturdy table.

Newbies to the event this year included the European tradeshow Blickfang, for which 50 European designers of interior products, fashion and jewellery exhibited their products. There was also the Japan Brand Exhibition, where small- and medium-sized design innovators from Japan were introduced to the international consumer.

On everyone's mind at the moment is the need for environmental conservation, and this theme spread through the whole of Tokyo Designer's Week. Besides the recycled furniture at the Container Ground, graphic designers put on a display of 100 posters based on the theme "Love Your Earth". And professional designers took up the challenge, too, many of them opting for green materials or local sourcing.

With his playfully provocative chandelier, Young was one example. The factory in China where he wanted the item made was unfamiliar with eco-friendly manufacturing processes, but Young insisted they use completely recyclable plastics for his product.

"And that one idea actually made those running the factory see that ecological awareness is a fashionable commodity," Young says. " So my design - design in general - can improve the environment."

As such, this year's Tokyo Designer's Week successfully brought design into the mainstream, and also channelled the trend that might change the face of Japan, or even the world.

Jess Salathong

Special to The Nation

Tokyo