ABOUT
In 1928, Japan’s first national “Design Research Institute (hereafter referred to as Kogei Shidosho) ” was established in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. For about 41 years, top-level technicians gathered from across the country to conduct research and development on design, materials, and technology in order to promote the “industrial arts (industry)” era, which was the new age for “artistic crafts” that had been one of the pillars of Japan’s national industries until then. Kogei Shidosho, which studied “design” from world-renowned designers and architects of the time such as Bruno Taut and Charlotte Perriand, left behind numerous prototype designs that served as models (Mustermodell) for private companies. MUSTERMODELL “revives” timeless and universal designs from among those prototypes that remain relevant in modern living, widely communicating the history and value of the “Kogei Shidosho,” considered the origin of Japanese product design.
HERITAGE
Kogei Shidosho gathered top-level woodworkers, lacquerware artisans, blacksmiths, and other technicians from across the country over a period of about 41 years, from 1928 to 1969, conducting day and night research and development on designs and technologies for the new era, while also disseminating global design trends. Kogei Shidosho produced many excellent designers who were at the core of modern Japanese design, such as Isamu Kenmochi, Kappei Toyoguchi, Saburo Inui, Yoshio Akioka, and Mosuke Yoshitake. At a time when Japanese companies had not yet established design departments, Kogei Shidosho took the lead in design research, developing models for the designs of the new era, as well as promoting education, popularisation, and export of these designs.
However, despite this significant history, there are few people who know of Kogei Shidosho’s existence, even in Sendai City where it was located. Its presence is also thin in the historical context of design. A major factor for this is that after its dissolution in 1969, there is almost nothing left to trace its footsteps today. Additionally, there are few remains or records of Kogei Shidosho, and a shortage of people to research and connect its history. While there are about 250 valuable prototypes and materials remaining from that time, they are all housed at the Tohoku History Museum in Sendai City, making it difficult for the general public to access them. MUSTERMODELL aims to carry on the existence of Kogei Shidosho, which is the origin of Japanese product design and holds great historical significance, connecting it to the future and making it a foundation for considering the way forward for design and crafts.
Unfortunately, there is no organisation today that directly inherits the lineage of Kogei Shidosho. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tohoku Centre (commonly known as AIST) in Sendai City operates as an organisation inheriting its roots, but it does not conduct design research like in those days. AIST inherited materials, prototypes, and other items from Kogei Shidosho's era, which are now transferred and housed at the Tohoku History Museum.