A prolific industrial designer, Naoto Fukasawa's first-ever museum exhibition in the United States is on now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
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Naoto Fukasawa
It’s hard to believe, but Naoto Fukasawa has not had a U.S. exhibition dedicated solely to his work until now. The much-lauded Japanese designer is this year’s recipient of the Design Excellence Award, honoring an individual who has made a serious impact on the field of design; the award is presented annually by Collab, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s modern and contemporary design group for members. With this recognition comes the accompanying exhibition Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves, featuring over one hundred items he designed, on display through April 20th, 2025. Fukasawa joins an impressive group, as past honorees include the likes of Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry and Dieter Rams.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
“Design professionals know Fukasawa, they know his work, they know his impact on the field. But I do feel he is not as well known in the United States, in a broader sense. Certainly not as much as he deserves to be,” noted Colin Fanning, Assistant Curator in the Department of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “I think the show is one of the more beautiful ones I've had a chance to work on, which really comes from the work itself. It is so charismatic and lovely that part of the job was getting out of the way of the work, let it speak on its own.”
Philadelphia Museum of Art
For those who are fans of Fukasawa (and, as Fanning noted, there are legions of them in the global design community) the exhibition is a wonderful combination “greatest hits” - a now iconic wall-mounted CD player he designed for Muji, the Grande Papilio armchair for B&B Italia, pieces created in collaboration with British designer Jasper Morrison - with quite a few surprises mixed in, from recognizable pieces some may not realize he designed, to others that may be discovered for the first time.
Fukasawa's wall-mounted CD player, designed for Muji Philadelphia Museum of Art
A brief primer for those who are not familiar with the first Japanese designer to be bestowed with the Design Excellence Award: Fukasawa, who is now 68 years old, began his career in 1980 at Seiko Epson, harnessing micro-technology to design what seemed like futuristic objects at that time (like wrist TVs). He spent some time in the United States at ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco), where he was involved in the development of concepts for Apple. In 2003 he founded his eponymous firm in Tokyo. He is an exceedingly prolific designer, having collaborated with over 70 international brands including the aforementioned plus Herman Miller, Alessi and Boffi.
The Shelf X for B&B Italia Philadelphia Museum of Art
It’s impossible, of course, to include all of them in the relatively small physical space alloted for this exhibition at the museum. But visitors will encounter a room full of well-thought-out, incredibly useful and covetable pieces. The forms are deceptively simple — a designer will spot the genius in them, but a layperson may not understand why pedestrian objects like a toaster, egg cup or sink may merit inclusion in a museum show. Fukasawa seems ok with that. “It is important that the objects are always of high quality, beautiful, iconic, and that the ideas behind them contain a sense of humor,” he explained. “Visitors here often find themselves resonating with the ideas embedded in these objects, smiling or chuckling. I believe many people also discover something new about design.”
A rice cooker designed for Muji Philadelphia Museum of Art
“For me, the richest surprise, is the sketches that we were able to reproduce in facimilie version in the show,” said Fanning. “Because those are very hard to access from the outside, for understandable reasons. It's a working environment but not many designers publicize how they do the work that they do. “
Facsimile of a Naoto Fukaswa sketch
When asked if anything surprised him as he and his team, many of whom have been with him for two decades, went through the 18-month process of creating the exhibition, Fukasawa replied: “I realized I have not really changed anything over the [over twenty] years. I kept consistency. That makes me quite happy. [The exhibition] has been a great opportunity to reflect on my journey as a designer and how far I've come.”
Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves, is on view through April 20th, 2025.
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