2016.10.13
Three groups—the Katsuhiko Ogawa Laboratory (Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies), the Hajime Narukawa Laboratory (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance), and a group consisting of Shigeru Ban (Guest Professor (Part-time), Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) and SFC architecture students—have received the 2016 Good Design Award and were selected for the GOOD DESIGN BEST 100.
This award is part of a "comprehensive design promotion system" hosted by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, a public interest incorporated foundation. Its purpose is to enrich our lives, industries, and society as a whole by selecting and honoring "good design."
Among the winners, designs evaluated as particularly outstanding are selected for the "GOOD DESIGN BEST 100."
■ Katsuhiko Ogawa Laboratory
The lab was selected for the Good Design Award and the BEST 100 for "Deli Sapuri," a bento sales style/design planned in joint research with JR East, CIAL, and others.
In this year's judging, it received the following evaluation, leading to the award: "The combination of a mental state diagnostic app and meals is new. The key point is how it diagnoses the user's mental state and moves their emotions by offering solutions tailored to their feelings and physical condition. Furthermore, the design is thorough and sophisticated, extending to branding that includes package design and copywriting."
Comment from Professor Katsuhiko Ogawa
At the Ogawa Laboratory, we have been conducting media design related to railway services, including for JR East, for 10 years. In the spring semester of 2015, we started a media design project to promote the stores in "CIAL Sakuragicho," a specialty shopping area at Sakuragicho Station. Students from the lab proposed a new style of bento service where customers could enjoy lunch by creating their own bento, beautifully arranging their favorite side dishes in unified packaging from different stores. Based on this, Beacon Communications joined the team, the idea expanded, and after workshops and demonstration experiments, we were able to receive this prestigious award. The creativity and practical skills of SFC students are truly wonderful.
■ Hajime Narukawa Laboratory
The lab was selected for the Good Design Award and the BEST 100 for its world map projection method.
In this year's judging, it received the following evaluation, leading to the award: "AuthaGraph is the invention of a new map projection method that compensates for the shortcomings of conventional maps and reflects a worldview in line with contemporary global affairs. Looking at a map rendered with AuthaGraph—with its largely accurate sizes, reduced shape distortion, ability to place any point in the world at the center, and capacity to represent the flow of time—makes one realize that there are diverse ways of seeing the world."
This world map projection method has also been selected as one of the six candidates for the "Good Design Grand Award." The Grand Award will be announced on October 28, following voting by the judging committee, award winners, and the general public.
Comment from Associate Professor Hajime Narukawa
The Good Design Grand Award is typically won by tangible design products, so I thought our work, a somewhat obscure and modest map projection method, would go unnoticed. I am very happy. The other candidates are very appealing works from large organizations, so I expect a tough competition in the public vote. Over the next month, we will be working to help more people understand our project. I would be grateful if you could come to the public voting venue at Good Design Marunouchi to show your support.
■ Shigeru Ban Laboratory*
The lab was selected for the Good Design Award and the BEST 100 for its Paper Partition System for evacuation shelters. This system was utilized during the Kumamoto earthquakes in collaboration with universities in Kumamoto, volunteer architects, and others.
In this year's judging, it received the following evaluation, leading to the award: "Years of effort in response to the question 'What can architects and spatial experts do in the face of natural disasters?' have been sublimated into a simple design. Furthermore, during the recent Kumamoto earthquakes, the system for its reception in the affected areas was well-established, and it will be a great asset for our country and the world, where natural disasters are frequent."
*Shigeru Ban, Guest Professor (Part-time), and the SFC architecture students who, under his guidance, participated in activities for the Paper Partition System for evacuation shelters during the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes.
Source: General Affairs (Public Relations), Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) Office