Design Magazine AXIS Vol.215 on Sale December 28 !

FEATURE   nendo and Takram
A thorough look at two design organizations spreading their wings over the world

The world and society we live in are filled with borders. There are physical borders that define nations or places, and there are many psychological borders that involve human relationships and emo-tions within oneself as well as with others.
During the COVID-19 pandemic that is forcing us to live different lifestyles, many areas where the borderlines between conventional "districts" and "boundaries," such as real and virtual communication, became ambiguous. This issue's feature explore possible new val-ues and frameworks that may emerge in the future through borders that might also be transient if we take a bird's eye view of the world. We show new ways of viewing society and the power of imagina-tion through borders that we envision and where we ourselves are the subject.

10 Key ideas valued by nendo and Takram

nendo's key ideas are: 1) First, break free of constraints and be determined, 2) Keep doing things with your hands, 3) Think while working, 4) Create change, 5) Think small, 6) Blur boundaries, 7) Be flexible, 8) Question sensitively, 9) Acceleration rather than speed, 10) Problem solving based in problem finding.

Organizational management for effective human resources

The number of members of both nendo and Takram has exceeded 50, and each of their forces comprises diverse talents. What kinds of human resources from young to mainstay and veteran staffers support the activities of the studios and bear their future? We made frequent visits to their offices at Akasaka and Omotesando in Tokyo, and interviewed seven members from nendo and ten from Takram.

LEADERS
Masao Morita （Independent Scholar）

Masao Morita has a lab called Rokuya An in Kyoto where he pursues a mathematics-centered philosophy independently without belonging to any organization like a university. While mathematics in a narrow sense involves studies of numbers and geometry, Morita says, "It is a field that pursues things that yet have neither meanings nor interpretations, and studies possibilities outside its realm while revising the environment of thinking." Morita says there is a fundamental shift from the powerful subjective concept centered around the individual, and without that shift, he says it will be difficult to maintain sanity in the coming eras.

Sci Tech File
The mystery-laden laws of aesthetics of radiolaria adrift in the ocean and sealed inside rocks

Radiolaria are unicellular organisms that have existed on the earth from 500 million years ago, and 800 to 1,000 species are adrift in oceans throughout the world even today. Their elaborate formative beauty has been known widely through illustrations drawn by evolutionary scientist Ernest Haeckel (1834 - 1919), but their ecology is still full of mysteries. What are radiolaria in the first place? We visited the leading person in radiolaria research Professor Atsushi Matsuoka at the Department of Science, Faculty of Science, Niigata University.

INSIGHT
Green Experimental Site at Expo 2020 Dubai

Expo 2020 Dubai opened on October 1, 2021, after almost a year delay. Singapore-based landscape design firm Salad Dressing created a lush green structure in the desert. We explored their thoughts on expanding the scope of conventional landscape design beyond their unique name.

INSIGHT
SANU CABIN demonstrates architecture in harmony with the mountains

SANU 2nd Home is a second home subscription service based in Mt. Yatsugatake and Lake Shirakaba. We interviewed Kotaro Anzai from ADX, the company behind the design and construction of the SANU CABIN, about the architectural goals for this project.