What we do

Biotechnology Fashion Workshop

  • Organization : Tokyo Institute of Technology
  • Section : Support for Overseas Artistic Creation in Tokyo
  • Type of Grant Program : Single

Outline

Existential Wearables is a collaborative project between Tokyo Institute of Technology and Central Saint Martins, merging art and design practices with science and technology research to speculate on the future of wearable technologies for people in Tokyo. Students and staff at Tokyo Tech and other institutions, plus members of the general public from a wide range of professional and cultural backgrounds, devised and developed ideas in a series of ‘cafes’, such as the one with Prof. Takeshi Kikutani on 3 May, and workshops leading up to a Wearables Hackathon in 21-17 July. The Hackathon developed initial concepts into models and scenarios. Extending ideas for future urban wearables beyond pure functionality into philosophical realms, the models and designs produced by the interdisciplinary teams speculate on how Tokyo might change in the next decade and how wearable technology might facilitate those changes. Prototypes produced reflect concerns about environmental changes, the search for personal space, or the challenges of meaningful interpersonal communication. The public event, sharing the processes and outcomes of the project, took place on 29 September in 8/Court, Hikarie, a high-profile creative venue in Shibuya. Existential Wearables: Tokyo in 10 years – what are we wearing? invited public audiences to engage with the concepts and further develop the scenarios to share their own visions of future Tokyo living.

Profile

【Central Saint Martins, University Arts London】
Tokyo Tech Teaching Exchange, a programme of residencies that took place in 2017/18, taking Heather Barnett (slime mold artist), Dr Betti Marenko (product design and context philosopher) and Dr Ulrike Oberlack (ceramic development and jewellery designer) to Tokyo for one month each to merge art and design teaching methods with a science and technology discipline and to explore the potential for research collaborations.

Contact

Kayoko Nohara
Professor
Tokyo Institute of Technology
2-12-1 O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550
TEL: 03-5734-3521
FAX: 03-5734-3521
E-mail: nohara.k.aa@m.titech.ac.jp

Venues

Tokyo Institute of Technology
8/COURT, Sibuya Hikarie