LEXUS TO HOST ARTIST’S EXHIBITION AT MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2013

Lexus will stage a design exhibition in partnership with a world-renowned artist at Milan Design Week in April 2013*, where winning designs from the first Lexus Design Award launched last year will also be on display.

Akihisa Hirata, an up-and-coming architect, will create a space based on the concept of “-amazing flow-.” The space will present a multi-sensory experience of “flow” through which visitors can see the connection that brings together roads, humans, wind and water as a single entity. The exhibition aims to deliver an amazing experience that will challenge visitors to imagine how the cities of the future will look. Toyo Ito, an architect who has been serving as the judge of the first Lexus Design Award will be supervising this “-amazing flow-” project. The exhibition will take place at central Milan’s Museo della Permanente art museum from April 10 - 14, 2013.

The 10 winning designs from the first Lexus Design Award, which will be on display during Milan Design Week, will be announced on Feb 28, 2013.

Details of the Lexus Design Award and the Lexus exhibition at Milan Design Week 2013 can be followed on the Lexus Global website (www.lexus-global.com).

Lexus continues to demonstrate its support of up-and-coming amazing artists that has been evident through the launch of the Lexus Design Award, Lexus Short Films and now the “-amazing flow-” exhibition at Milan.

*Milano Design Week is the world’s largest design exhibition. Furniture makers and fashion brands stage a variety of related events throughout Milan during the week to highlight the appeal and originality of their designs. The show is also known as Milano Salone.


Event Overview
Name: – amazing flow –
Date: April 10^th (Wed.) – April 14^th (Sun).
A press preview will be held on April 9 (Tues.)
Venue: Museo della Permanente, Milan
Supervisior: Toyo Ito
Space Designer: Akihisa Hirata
Organizer: Lexus International


Artist Profiles

Supervisor: Toyo Ito
Born in 1941. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Department of Architecture in 1965, Ito worked for the Metabolist architect Kiyonori Kikutake until 1969. In 1971 he opened his own office, Urban Robot, which was renamed to Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects in 1979. He has been a commissioner of the Kumamoto Artpolis since 2005.

Main works: Sendai Mediatheque, TOD’S Omotesando Building, Tama Art University Library (Hachioji campus), The Main Stadium for the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung (Taiwan R.O.C.), Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari, etc. Under development; Taichung Metropolitan Opera House (Taiwan R.O.C.), Extension for “The Fair of Barcelona Gran Via Venue” (Spain), Multimedia Complex on the site of Gifu University’s School of Medicine (tentative) etc.

Awards and Prizes: Architectural Institute of Japan Prize (1986 and 2003), Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale (for Lifetime Achievement in 2002 and for Japan Pavilion which he was a commissioner in 2012), Royal Gold Medal from The Royal Institute of British Architects (2006), The 22nd Praemium Imperiale in Honor of Prince Takamatsu (2010), etc.

Space Designer: Akihisa Hirata
Born 1971 in Osaka. Graduated 1997, Master of Engineering, University of Kyoto. Worked for Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, then established Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office in 2005. Awards include the Japan Institute of Architects’ New Face Award in 2008 for his design of the Masuya Honten building, the ELLE DECO Young Japanese Design Talent award in 2009 for his “animated knot” installation, and the Elita Award in 2012 for his installation “Photosynthesis”. In 2012, he was awarded the Golden Lion at the 13th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition as a member of the team who designed the exhibit at the Japan Pavilion.

In addition, his proposal for the Post-disaster Restoration Housing and Kindergarten Competition in Kamaishi earned several awards, including the grand prize. His first overseas solo exhibition “Tangling” was held at the Architecture Foundation in London in Autumn 2012. Hirata sees architecture as a complex, interwoven tangle that establishes balance and order between architecture and ecology as it walks hand in hand with nature and life, and coexists with its surrounding environment.

As such, Hirata advocates architecture that stimulates and interacts with the human senses in a positive, natural manner. He is internationally active as an emerging architect who is spearheading a new generation of design in Japan. Publications include INAX Contemporary Architect Concept Series 8: Akihisa Hirata – Tangling (2011).