“Do experiments. Make prototypes. Always try to create new things.”
Kinya Tagawa, award-winning design engineer and honorary fellow of the RCA. Also judge of the 2018 National James Dyson Award in Japan. For Discussion: Kinya champions the lost art of doing rather than just thinking, when it comes to being an inventor.
If you take a look at my studio’s portfolio, you’ll notice that, at Takram, we work on projects in various fields, for various kinds of clients; from robotic moon rovers and airport lounges, all the way to government data visualisation tools. But a main thread running through everything we do is integrating the latest technology into said projects. Why? Because that’s how the history of human innovation goes.
On starting your own practice
When I started Takram 10 years ago, I knew I wanted to attempt something different. The Takram directors and I wanted to create the prototype for a design studio of the future, blending disciplines in a very different way compared to the corporate studios that were shaped by the designers of 20 or 30 years ago. We needed to reinvent the design process; that was our mission, to create something new. The wasn’t simply in terms of our projects, but rather in the very concept of a studio, creating a model that we could offer to future designers to evolve the industry.
In my view, wanting to create new things, new knowledge, or new tools is the reason why people should start their own studio. That’s the fundamental idea of design, and it’s what we are trying to share with students at our joint research lab between the RCA and Tokyo University. Traditionally, students spend over 90 per cent of their time learning tools or techniques that already exist; but we believe in the profound necessity of creating new solutions. Therefore, start a studio because you have something to say, and have a desire to contribute new things. Play a part in the cycle of human innovation. And try to make something genuinely innovative.
On maintaining perspective
Why are humans always trying to invent something new? Fire, language, agriculture; these technologies radically changed the nature of life on Earth. When we start a new project at work, I often reread these three books to frame my perspective of the bigger picture: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, and How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson. Then I ask myself: “what kind of change can be generated by this project?” Reading books like these gives me so many insights, providing figurative guideposts for our journey forward. In Johnson’s book, for example, a great passage explains the invention of transparent glass by a Venetian monk. He made an incredible number of experiments, throwing every kind of ingredient into the molten glass in an attempt to make it transparent. Finally, seaweed worked. Thanks to that, they invented glasses which allowed monks and common folk to read. Then came telescopes. Then microscopes. Astronomy, mapping, gravity; the ramifications and contributions to society are endless.
In that sense, one piece of advice that I would give to students or practitioners in design and engineering is: “imagine you are that monk”. Do experiments, make prototypes, and try to create new things for yourself, other designers, and everyone else.
On uniting design practice & technology
The catchphrase of the ‘digital revolution’ is certainly overused, but a revolution is indeed occurring. Digital technology is changing everything: wall surfaces, clothes, food, sleep — all these fundamental components of our lives are being affected by this technological shift. Changes that cause this sort of impact have rarely happened in history. There was the invention of machinery and mass production; the electric power supply revolution in the United States; the computational age; and now, the forefront is the Internet of Things (IOT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the internet. Of course, the last of these most definitely changes the nature of the relationship between humans and technology. It is the reason why people are looking toward design as an important additive to technology; because it is the glue that can allow tech to come together with human factors and society. Especially in this era of increasingly rapid technological advancement.
By themselves, these advancements are not based on human nature or humanistic motivations; creating tech that is innately weird to us, alienating and in the end, dangerous from a societal standpoint. Recent social-media innovations are creating huge social shifts, polarising and dividing real-world communities. Many of our issues with the web stem from this wider problem.
So, in a nutshell, design’s role is to adapt new tech for humans. New technology will always keep appearing, as it has since the beginning; but we need to temper it, and mould it for our common use. That is the credo at our studio, Takram.
In my day-to-day business, I notice that many tech or business people still don’t understand the role of design. One client recently said of their own company: “tech is our main focus, but the human element is our blind spot”. In this new age, industry is looking at human nature more than ever before. Maybe design is only one component of the solution — and can’t function completely by itself — but leading companies are increasingly trying to get into a more holistic approach, a more integrative technique. What we do at Takram is the same. It’s not just a pure “artistic” design perspective, but trying to figure out how design can contribute to society and solve problems. Engineers and business both think about design, and it is finally becoming more of a focus for them — because both now realise the importance of the humans.
The way I see it, there are typically three themes in design practice: classic design (product, car, furniture, etc. which are more artistic, personal, and craft-oriented); design engineering (bridging tech and human-centred factors); and business design (merging business and design). My goal is to thread some humanity into the tech world. Technology left to itself can be dangerous, it requires adjustment it to keep it fit for human usage.
Words: Kinya Tagawa, founder of the Takram design studio
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