Designart Tokyo has reached its 10th anniversary edition, and the festival now runs across the city. It opened on 30 October and continues until 8 November. Around 150 projects from exhibitors in 13 countries are on show in galleries and pop-up spaces.
The main venue is the former Tokyo Expressway, known as the KK Line, part of which is now an elevated park in Ginza. The festival’s first dedicated design store is also on site. It sells works from Nendo and Alessi, along with pieces by designers Ronan Bouroullec and Kwangho Lee.
Six projects stand out. They range from a tape that releases on command to a lamp that unfolds like an accordion.
Pulling Apart by Nomura
Glue-based adhesives applied to timber or metal are often difficult or impossible to remove. Once set, it can leave marks that never fully lift, or make a material impossible to recycle. Tokyo studio Nomura designed Pulling Apart to avoid that problem.
The adhesive is a strong but flexible tape that holds heavy materials firmly in place. A single tug stretches it, and it comes away easily. It is part of the Daikanyama exhibition “Separation: Designed to Come Apart,” which features products built for clean disassembly and recycling.
“Leave one end within reach behind the plinth or under the tabletop, and when the time comes, a single pull undoes the whole thing,” said Nomura.
The tape uses easy-disassembly bonding technology developed by Aica Kogyo Company. It remains a prototype.
Peco Poco by Howdunit
“Peco poco” is a common Japanese onomatopoeia for a growling stomach. Experimental design studio Howdunit built a table lamp around that sound.
A small hook at the top of the shade lets users unfold the lamp by hand, like an accordion. The shade is made of delicate layers of gauzy textile. The light opens with a “rhythmic ‘peco poco’ motion” and can be set at several heights.
“By continually asking how things are made, we aim to discover new possibilities in design,” said Howdunit founders Haruto Kamijo and Sho Tasaki.
Forest: Perspectives by Oji Holdings and We+
Tokyo paper manufacturer Oji Holdings presents an exhibition in Ginza that asks how people see forests. The company invited nine professionals to visit the forests it manages. They included designers, wood specialists, a writer and a chef.
Each guest responded to the landscape in their own way. Results include spoons carved from fallen branches and wood sheets made from bark, using a process similar to washi paper making. Local studio We+, founded by Toshiya Hayashi and Hokuto Ando, designed the encyclopedic display.
Box by 21B Studio
Founded in 2021, Tokyo-based 21B Studio holds its first solo show, Box, at Tiers Gallery in Shibuya. The brutalist-style building is the backdrop for the work.
Box explores how many ways a humble paper box can be made through folds and incisions. Visitors can take home a flatpack poster. Once assembled, it resembles the geometric architecture of Tiers Gallery itself.
Tempura Object by Cecil Nabenashi
In Tokyo Midtown, design master’s student Cecil Nabenashi shows vases and bowls made from deep-fried paper and fibers. Tempura, the Japanese dish of batter-coated food fried in oil, inspired the project.
Nabenashi wanted to test whether his tempura technique could give design objects a durable finish. He made the batter from a blend of non-edible ingredients. He told Dezeen that his next challenge will be a deep-fried garment.
Tokyo’s design scene also looks outward, and Elna Nykänen Andersson’s Finnish design diplomacy project in Tokyo explores how cultures exchange ideas through objects and making.
Industrial Romanticism
Industrial Romanticism fills Axis Gallery in Minato, Japan‘s first dedicated design gallery, founded in 1981. Designers Yoshiki Matsuyama and Ryota Yokozeki organized the group show and invited eight leading Japanese companies to take part.
In-house designers at each company created prototypes of familiar products with an imaginative twist. The lineup includes bathroom brand Toto and camera maker Fujifilm. Ryusuke Baba of Yamaha built a piano from timber that would normally be rejected for instruments. The result is a keyboard with an offbeat sound.
Designart Tokyo runs from 30 October to 8 November 2026 at venues across the city. Each of these projects begins with a familiar material or habit, such as how glue holds or how paper folds. Visitors can test those assumptions in person before the festival closes.
Sources & Links
Source: dezeen.com
Frequently asked questions
What is Nomura’s Pulling Apart adhesive tape and how does it work?
Pulling Apart is a strong but flexible tape from Tokyo studio Nomura that holds heavy materials firmly in place. A single tug stretches it so it comes away easily, and it remains a prototype.
When does Designart Tokyo run this year?
Designart Tokyo runs from 30 October to 8 November 2026 at venues across the city. The festival is in its 10th anniversary edition.
How does Howdunit’s Peco Poco lamp open and adjust?
Users unfold the table lamp by hand using a small hook at the top of the shade, like an accordion. The shade is made of layered gauzy textile, and the light can be set at several heights.
What is 21B Studio’s Box exhibition about?
Box is 21B Studio’s first solo show, held at Tiers Gallery in Shibuya. It explores how many ways a humble paper box can be made through folds and incisions, and visitors can take home a flatpack poster that resembles the gallery’s architecture once assembled.
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