A glowing, lung-shaped lamp greets visitors at the second edition of Alter, a young designers’ exhibition that opened in central Tokyo, where japanese cedar stools also take centre stage. The show runs at Nihonbashi Mitsu Hall during the 10th Designart Tokyo.
Alter brings together work from 75 international creators, most of them in their 20s or 30s. The exhibitors say they want to “re-examine the value of product design” in an industry they describe as growing increasingly rigid in what it produces.
Dutch designer Tim Teven curated a group show of texture-heavy pieces titled At First Contact. It includes a bright green vessel by French designer Audrey Large, covered in protruding, tentacle-like forms that match the artist’s otherworldly style.
Nearby, Dutch creative Teun Zwets shows a wall-mounted mirrored cabinet built from lacquered split wood with a high gloss. Paris studio LS Gomma contributed a polyurethane rubber scone lamp. Its ribbed body glows and loosely resembles a pair of lungs.
Teven selected pieces that draw attention to “reflection, gloss and wear.” He linked the works to Japanese craft. “The pieces’ attention to surface resonates with traditions within Japanese craft, where the effects of making, material behaviour and use remain visible in the finished object,” he said.
If the washi section caught your eye, Aesop’s Tokyo National Museum installation shows how the same paper can fill a room with scent and light. Aesop’s Washi Fragrance Installation at Tokyo National Museum is worth a look.
Tea with no host
The most unusual display may be a “tea ceremony with no host” by Tariki Research Institute. The project inverts the traditional ceremony, in which a tea master chooses the cup for each guest.
Here, sensors at locations around the world collect environmental data. An AI algorithm translates that data into organic shapes, and the shapes are blow-moulded into unique vessels. Visitors were invited to drink from them.
Japanese cedar stools and fair value
Bole is a project by London architecture studio Pan Projects, built around japanese cedar stools. It was made with local forestry company Morisho and Nara-based wood specialist Morisuke Mei Tree Industry.
The team started from a practical yield figure. A typical Japanese cedar tree produces five logs, each four metres long. From each log, the collaborators made eight japanese cedar stools, cut into simple discs so that no part of the log goes to waste.
For Alter, the japanese cedar stools are stacked into a large totemic column. The column shows the making process step by step, from raw log to finished seat.
The organisers frame the project as a question of value. “Today in the mountains of Japan, the market value of logs is below the value of the labour of the people who grow and care for them,” they said.
They add that wood moves constantly through construction and manufacturing sites, yet most of its value never returns to the forest. “Bole was born as a response to this imbalance,” the organisers said.
For more Tokyo craft built around natural materials, the Oyado MAS exhibition at Karimoku Commons offers a close look at Japanese wooden design. Immerse in Intimate Japanese Design at Karimoku Commons pairs well with the cedar stools.
Washi as a fibre network
Capillary Drift presents a different material story. Japanese designer Yuma Kano worked with washi paper specialist Gen Taniguchi of Nao Tesuki Washi and artisan Kurara Omichi, who works at Uchida Dyeing Factory in Tokyo.
The trio shows stools, vessels and other material experiments made from delicately dyed washi. Taniguchi rejects the idea of paper as a flat surface. “Rather than seeing washi simply as a flat surface, we approach it as a complex network of interwoven fibres, seeking to reveal expressions hidden within the material itself,” he said.
The first Alter show ran during last year’s Designart Tokyo, a major tokyo design exhibition. At the time, the exhibition team told Dezeen that they wanted to revive the city’s “increasingly homogenous” design scene. This year’s edition extends that argument with work that tests how objects are made, sourced and used. Designart Tokyo 2026 runs from 30 October to 8 November 2026 at venues across Tokyo.
Source: dezeen.com
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Alter exhibition held during Designart Tokyo?
Alter is held at Nihonbashi Mitsu Hall in central Tokyo during the 10th Designart Tokyo. The show brings together work from 75 international creators, most of them in their 20s or 30s.
How many stools does each log yield in the Bole project?
In the Bole project, each four-metre Japanese cedar log yields eight stools. The collaborators cut the stools into simple discs so that no part of the log goes to waste.
How does the tea ceremony with no host work?
Tariki Research Institute’s project uses sensors at locations around the world to collect environmental data. An AI algorithm translates that data into organic shapes, which are blow-moulded into unique vessels that visitors drink from.
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