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​KOSUKE ARAKI

Designer / Maker / Artist

Originally born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1988, Kosuke Araki is a Japanese designer working and living in Tokyo. 

 

Kosuke creates works in search of values or sensitivities that have been slighted in the process of rapid modernisation. He believes that there must be something vital which cannot be attained by simply pursuing efficiency and rationality. With appreciation of nature, he carefully listens to the voice of things and ponders ways to retrieve humanity in our life.

His works have been appreciated and exhibited internationally including Kunstgewerbemuseum, the MAK Wien, La Triennale di Milano, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Christie's London, Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). His Anima collection has been acquired for the collection of V&AMoMA. and CID Grand Hornu.

In the summer of 2013, Kosuke completed MA degree with the highest evaluation at Royal College of Art, where he studied in Design Products department under Tord Boontje, Rosario Hurtado (El Último Grito), Gabriel Krasmer, Sarah van Gameren (Glithero) and Philippe Malouin.

 

His graduation work, Food Waste Ware, was selected as one of 40 works for an exhibition, 21st century Design and Art – RCA 2013  Selected works and projects from Royal College of Art Show 2013, curated by Christie's in London. It was also featured on Evening Standard, a free daily newspaper published in London.

 

Kosuke won the Grand Prix of Lexus Design Award 2016 with Agar Plasticity which was developed in collaboration with two of his designer friends. Afterwards, he designed several different limited packages and ornaments specially for Lexus. A year later, the project was honoured with the National Winner (Japan) of Energy Globe Award 2017.

In 2018, Kosuke was shortlisted for the Emerging Designer of the Year category of Dezeen Awards as one of six finalistsFor the 2019 edition of the awardsAnima was shortlisted for the Sustainable Design category of Dezeen Awards as one of six finalists. For the 2020 edition, Desktop Forest and Canopy were longlisted for the Workplace Design category.

​In 2021, selected for International KOGEI(craft) Award in Toyama, his work was also recognised as a craft with alternative perspective. He was chosen as the winner of the Emerging Talents category of Design Anthology Awards.

Among more than 800 works by about 400 craftspeople from around the globe, a collection of Anima was displayed in Homo Faber 2024 held in Venice, Italy.

kosukearaki_portrait_2018_rgb_1920px_72d

© KOSUKE ARAKI

Education

2011 - 13   MA, Design Products, Royal College of Art | London, UK

2006 - 10   BA, Product Design Department, Tama Art University | Tokyo, Japan

Awards

2022    Recipient, Tokyo Business Design Award, Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) | Tokyo, Japan

2021    Winner, Emerging TalentsDesign Anthology Awards, Fifth Black | Australia and Hong Kong

2021    Selected, International Kogei Award in Toyama 2020, Toyama prefecture | Japan

2020    Longlist, Workplace Design, Dezeen Awards, Dezeen Ltd. | UK

2019    Shortlist, Sustainable Design, Dezeen Awards, Dezeen Ltd. | UK

2019    Longlist, Workplace Design, Dezeen Awards, Dezeen Ltd. | UK

2018    Shortlist, Emerging Designer of the Year, Dezeen Awards, Dezeen Ltd. | UK

2018    Longlist, Homeware Design, Dezeen Awards, Dezeen Ltd. | UK

2017    National Winner (Japan), Energy Globe Award 2017, ENERGY GLOBE Foundation GmbH | Austria

2016    Grand Prix Winner, Lexus Design Award 2016, Lexus | Japan

2013    Nomination, "Brilliant" Eddie Mundy Award, Royal College of Art | London, UK

2012    Winner, BlackBerry Student Project Award "Design for our Future Selves", Helen Hamlyn Center for Design​ | London, UK

Public Collection

2022    Anima, CID Grand Hornu | Hornu, Belgium

2019    Anima, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) | New York, US

2019    Anima, Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) | London, UK

Exhibitions

2024.12 - 05   Mottainai, Japan House São Paulo | São Paulo, Brasil

2024.09          Homo Faber 2024 - The Journey of Life, Fondazione Giorgio Cini | Venice, Italy

2024.03 - 06   ORIGIN of SIMPLICITY - 20 Visions of Japanese Design, ADI Design Museum | Milan, Italy

2023.09 - 07   Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) | New York, US

2023.05 - 10   FOOD, Design Museum Holon | Holon, Israel

2023.01 - 03   Meet The Future, China Science and Technology Museum | Beijing, China

2023.02          Circular Materials for Future Dining, Ambiente | Frankfurt, Germany

2022.09 - 10   The Planetarian, 751 D Park | Beijing, China

2022.09 - 01   At the Coalface!, CID au Grand-Hornu | Hornu, Belgium

2022.05 - 09   IT'S OUR F***ING BACKYARD, Stedelijk Museum | Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2022.04 - 05   The Thinking Piece, The Thinking Piece | Tokyo, Japan

2021.10 - 05   Beyond TUMS, Transnatural | Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2021.07 - 09   Refrigerator Illusion, Asia Culture Center | Gwangju, South Korea

2021.05 - 09   The Unknown Mine Zone, Transnatural | Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2021.04 - 05   The Unknown Mine Zone, Nieuw Dakota | Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2021.04 - 05   International Kogei Award in Toyama 2020, Takaoka Art Museum | Toyama, Japan

2021.02 - 04   International Kogei Award in Toyama 2020, Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design | Toyama, Japan

2021.02 - 05   Materia Gris (Grey Matter), Centrocentro | Madrid, Spain

2021.11 - 08   Broken Nature, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) | New York, US

2020.09          Lexus Design Award Winning Works, Lexus, Intersect by Lexus | Tokyo, Japan

2020.05 -        FUTURE FOOD - What will we eat tomorrow?, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum | Dresden, Germany

2020.02 - 05   Design Transfigured/Waste Reimagned, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art | Arizona, US

2019.11          Materials Innovation 2019, Subcontractor InnoDex, ELMIA Subcontractor | Jönköping, Sweden

2019.10          Designart Tokyo 2019, Designart, Tenoha Daikanyama | Tokyo, Japan

2019.10 - 12   Design Transfigured/Waste Reimagned, Georgetown University Art Galleries | Washington D.C., US

2019.05 -        Design Lab, Vienna Biennale For Change 2019, The MAK | Vienna, Austria

2019.05          Disruptive Materials, Interzum, KoelnMesse | Cologne, Germany

2019.05 - 10   FOOD: Bigger than the Plate, Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) | London, UK

2019.05          Life and Life after Death, Zagreb Design Week and Art Zagreb, Tehnički muzej Nikola Tesla | Zagreb, Croatia

2019.04          Sumitomo Forestry - Reevaluating Wood, Milan Design Week, Superstudio Più | Milan, Italy

2019.03 - 09   Broken Nature, The XXII Triennale, La Triennale di Milano | Milan, Italy

2019.02 - 03  Super-Packaging, Madrid Design Festival, Femán Gómez Villa Cultural Centre | Madrid, Spain

2019.01 - 04   Future Cross Boundaries, Taiwan Design Museum | Taipei, Taiwan

2018.12 - 04   Food Revolution 5.0, Gewerbemuseum Winterthur | WInterthur, Switzerland

2018.10 - 12   MATERIAL DESIGN EXHIBITION 2018, Material Connexion Tokyo, AXIS Gallery | Tokyo, Japan

2018.05 - 09   Food Revolution 5.0, Kunstgewerbemuseum | Berlin, Germany

2018.03 - 01   Common Good, MAAS | Sydney, Australia

2017.10          "Future Luxury", Leisure Center | Vancouver, Canada

2017.10          Experimental Creations Tokyo 2017, Designart, TIERS | Tokyo, Japan

2017.04          Experimental Creations Milan 2017, Milan Design Week, Ventura Lambrate | Milan, Italy

2017.02 - 04     SuperMaterial, The Building Centre | London, UK

2016.11          EXTRA - Product Design Exhibition 2016, Tama Art University, Daikanyama T-site | Tokyo, Japan

2016.10          Beyond by Lexus, Lexus, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi | Tokyo, Japan

2016.09          FachPack 2016 – Forum for Design Knowledge, NürnbergMesse | Nürnberg, Germany

2016.08          Lexus Design Award 2016 Prototypes Exhibition, INTERSECT BY LEXUS - TOKYO | Tokyo, Japan

2016.07        Retrieved, Gdynia Design Days, PPNT Gdynia | Gdynia, Poland

2016.06          Sense The Anticipation, Lexus, Royal Savoy Hotel | Lausanne, Switzerland

2016.04        Lexus Design Award 2016, Milan Design Week, Tortona District | Milan, Italy

2015.09        The Voice of Things, London Design Festival, Brompton Design District | London, UK

2013.07        21st century Design and Art – RCA 2013, Christie's London on King Street | London, UK

​2013.06        Show RCA 2013, Royal College of Art | London, UK

2013.01        Work in Progress Show, Royal College of Art | London, UK

2012.02        Social Interaction, El Matadero | Madrid, Spain

2012.01        Work in Progress Show, Royal College of Art | London, UK

2010.03        Tama Art University Product Design Department Graduation Works, MODA POLITICA | Tokyo, Japan

Talks and Lectures

2022.10    "Concepts Follow (my) Conscience" as part of JAPAN DESIGN. Arts over the boundaries, University of Milan | Italy

2020.01    "My Client is Nature" as part of Inspire Talks, Design Academy by RCA x IIS Tokyo Design Lab | Tokyo

2019.02    "My Client is Nature", Ehime University, Kiya Ryokan | Ehime, Japan

2018.03    "Designing within the Natural Cycle", SENSE MATSUYAMA, Musée Nadaya | Ehime, Japan

2017.07    "Agar and Design and the Future", Matsuyama University | Ehime, Japan

2016.09    "World-changing Design" Lexus Design Award 2017 Promotional Talk, Lexus, Aoyama Book Center | Tokyo, Japan

Work Experiences

2014.03 - 05    Assistant (Research, Mock-up making), design studio | Tokyo, Japan

2011.01- 03    Assistant (Graphic design, Mock-up making), design studio | Tokyo, Japan

2010.01- 03    Intern (Research), Nike Design Studio | Tokyo, Japan

2009.07- 09    Intern (Research, Footware design), Nike Design Studio | Tokyo, Japan

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