Design Magazine AXIS Vol.220 on Sale November 1 !

UP NEXT

One of the roles of the media is to discover, promote and support new talent. There is no doubt that backing and endorsing fresh, young talent imbued with the energy to create a vigorous, rich, and diverse future will lead to nurturing a diverse and innovative design culture. When we look back in history, we notice that new creators are often born under unfortunate environments such as when the world is enduring disquieting circumstances or economical crises. During the approximately two years when the world was distressed by the COVID pandemic, a yearning for fresh talent emerged while venues of social exchange and presentation decreased drastically. Incorporating various issues and situations in the world as a source of creativity, and presenting new possibilities to the society, each in a different style.... If any common elements are found there, "the younger generations will perhaps face the various changes aggressively with their own sense of the era unique to their generation." We would like our readers to sense the subtle new signs of design through the activities of 2 groups and 10 individual designers, all 35 years old or younger from around the globe.

Cultural anthropological design for unraveling one's roots
Simón Ballen Botero

The population of Simón Ballen Botero's home base Colombia is a mix of European, Indigineous and African heritage.
Many of them Meztizos, with mixed indigenous and european ancestry. Colombia is, a multiracial nation with over 80 indigenous tribes and over 60 languages. Ballen says he wants to delve into the history and culture of Colombia and make contribution to establishing the identity of not only his home country but also the entire Latin America.
What is "design" in his eyes?

Making people's minds positive through vivid colors and empathy
Yinka Ilori

A giant, colorful and heartwarming message was put up on a street corner in London. The person who comforted the minds of people occupied by post-Covid concerns was British designer Yinka Ilori who has his roots in Nigeria.
He possesses a sense of empathy that embraces the diversifying society that lies beyond and ahead of "decolonized" design.

From stories to urban planning.
Imagining architectural fairy tales in drawing
Freja Bao

Freja Bao maintains two identities, that of an artist and an architect.
She re-imagines cityscapes in stories and then reinterprets them into drawings, suggesting new possibilities in creating architectural spaces.

LEADERS
Mauro Porcini
(Senior Vice President & Chief Design Officer at PepsiCo)

The kindness of strangers.... What should we cherish to create values that are truly for our society in this bleak world? Once responsible for 3M's global design and serves as chief design officer (CDO) at the major food and beverage manufacturer PepsiCo since 2012, Mauro Porcini provides some possible answers to this question in his latest book. We talked to Porcini who prioritizes his goal as "designing happiness."

Sci Tech File
Fermentation Technology for the Earth as revealed by microorganisms

When hearing the word "fermentation, we immediately think of such food and drinks as Japanese sake (rice wine), wine, cheese, miso (soybean paste), and soy sauce," but it is not limited to just making great tasting food and drinks through the action of microorganisms. It also involves researching, from the gene level, into how the various substances are produced from the diverse life phenomena of microorganisms, followed by searching for substances that might suggest possible benefits to humankind such as medicines, pesticides, and plastics. This is also part of the research in fermentation. We visited Professor Yasuo Ohnishi at the Laboratory of Fermentation Microbiology, Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo, which has a history of over 120 years, to hear about the latest in the expanding research into microorganisms.

INSIGHT
Designing furniture for Kanagawa Prefectural Library

The original Kanagawa Prefectural Library in Yokohama was designed by one of the early leaders of Japanese modern architecture Kunio Mayekawa, and the chairs were designed by Tadaomi Mizunoe. A new main building for this library was born on September 1, 2022. Its furniture scheme was put together by Tsuyoshi Matsuzawa of E&Y, and the furniture was designed by Sosuke Nakabo and Koichi Futatsumata. What is the resulting effect brought by pursuing furniture unique to this space? We explore the answer through the words of these three figures.

INSIGHT
A Startups Ecosystem rooted in Scandinavia
―New startup companies born of "BBQ"

Northern Europe has given birth to numerous IT startups including Skype and Spotify. That trend is accelerating even more today. Behind this is design born of an original startup ecosystem that differs from that in such areas as Silicon Valley. Here is our report on a unique event with the title "BBQ" in Denmark.