HAPTIC exhibition at RIBA (until 7 June 2008, free entry)
HAPTIC catalogue, Takeo Co./ISBN 4022579315 (RIBA bookshop)
Designing Design by Kenya Hara, published by Lars Muller Publishers/ISBN 9783037781050
For a little while longer RIBA will be showing a selection of designs from the HAPTIC exhibition which originated from the ever-fertile mind of Kenya Hara, Chief Executive Designer, Nippon Design Centre Inc. and MUJI. He asked ‘various creators to design an object not based on form or colour, but motivated by primarily by ‘haptic’ considerations.’
Relating to the sensation of touch the exhibition presents a fascinating selection of designs that are both thought-provocing and (as you would expect) tactile. Kenya Hara’s own Water Pachinko is both thrilling and calming, a ‘water pinball’ that never ends, and has stood (or should that be tipped) the test of time. This is not a fate shared with a number of the other designs. Four years of being shifted about from country-to-country and touched by every other person before you has left many of the exhibits looking a little lifeless and in the case of the Remote Control, not even on standby. The exhibits have examples which visitors can touch and feel, but some of these have become quite worn.
This shouldn’t put anyone off however, the ideas and rigour into this line of sensory inquiry is often brilliant – ‘haptic’ cups, clocks and cabbages among many highlights. They also illustrate just how little designers think about our sense of touch in the mass market, and in a world where the multi-touch display will soon be as common as the keyboard and mouse, the sensory experiments on display here may shine a light on paths of discovery for tomorrows designers in areas we can only imagine now.
The accompanying catalogue looks and feels as attentive to detail to the exhibits. The insightful interviews with the designers expand the exhibition and help understand the processes both of design and production. It also highlights a number of designs that didn’t make the trip, such as Taku Satoh’s fascinating A Tick, A Water Droplet and Wavering which takes the haptic inquiry into the realm of optics.
But it’s Hara’s own book, published last year, that takes centre stage. Designing Design is one of the finest examples of design writing and book production witnessed in recent years. A lucid and thoughtful writer, Hara brings a level of humanity to design that is rare. A wealthy chunk of the book is given to designers that have worked towards a number of Hara’s exhibition projects and this says a great deal about the man and the designer too. The evident respect he shows his peers and the collective ethos that this breeds through his projects explains why they are so very successful.
The chapter on Exformation (‘understanding how little we know’ rather than ‘making known’) demands attention. Here Hara begins to question some of the problems visual communication finds itself in our information rich society: ‘Evading the troublesome working of inquiring into it, we have become devoted to a game of “information catch.” I wonder if this is where the problem of stagnating creativity in communication lurks.’ The project work presented is compelling and rich, worth the price of admission alone.
The quality of the book production is Lars Muller at their very best. The page layout and book design are harmonious and considered, many designers will be secretly rather jealous at the shear restrained lavishness (is that possible?!) of Designing Design, but cannot fail to be charmed and intrigued by the author, his ideas, and evident generosity and spirit.
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