Japan Car: Designs for the Crowded Globe
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE WORLD of Japanese car design set against the backdrop of Japan’s unique culture is explored in a sophisticated new exhibition, Japan Car: Designs for the Crowded Globe, which is on display at the Science Museum until April 19, 2009.
Japan Car, an exploration of the car as a “mobile cell”, has been conceived by two world class names from outside the world of automobile: Kenya Hara, the man responsible for much of the success of Muji, and Shigeru Ban, the distinguished Japanese architect currently designing a new satellite gallery in Metz for Paris’ Pompidou Centre.
The exhibition shows how Japanese car design reflects the ‘soil and the spirit of Japan’, shown through concept cars and special home market models. Japan Car also explores three themes while examining the future of mobility in cities. Japan, being both highly innovative and densely populated, can be seen as the driving force behind transport solutions for twenty-first century cities.
The exhibition is organised by the Science Museum and Design Platform Japan; supported by the Embassy of Japan in the UK; and sponsored by Tau Corporation, Yamagin Corporation, Arai Shoji Co. Ltd and Nippon Design Center Inc.