Japanese Face Masks: Senseware Designer Collaboration Project

Senseware is a project that teams up chemical and material manufacturers with designers of all walks to create new, compelling uses for synthetic materials. The most recent edition features major manufacturers like Asahi Kasei and Toray Industries alongside creative luminaries like architect Jun Aoki and industrial designer Nendo.

The results vary from practical structures to purely artist creations—and to fashion items. This year Japan Fashion Week design duo Mint Designs incorporated their Senseware contribution into their catwalk show. The “To be someone” mask project was created from an unwoven material using long polyester fibers called “Smash” by Asahi Kasei Fibers Corporation. The highly thermo-dynamic material can be easily molded into 3D forms—here resulting in a pollen mask press-formed into the shape of a perfectly balanced face.

Photos courtesy of Japan Fashion Week

For the show, the masks were decorated with prints to match the clothes on display, giving the models an eerie mannequin-esque sameness. Except of course for the ones that got the contrasting chimpanzee version of the mask.

But joking (and social critique) aside, why not? Pollen masks are a common sight in Japan, especially now as hay fever hits its peak. We’ve looked at previous attempts to make the mask more fashionable, namely the Maskore (Mask-erade) campaign from fashion website GirlsGate.com that instructed women how to dress up their mask to suit their look. Why not one that is more than just tolerable, but actually enhances your appearance?

While Mint Designs created the masks purely as prototypes for the project, PR representative Naoko Jensen noted that a number of buyers and press expressed interest in them—suggesting that in this case Senseware has succeeded in pushing the discussion and potential of an average, accepted product to another level.

From Aprill 22-27 Senseware will travel to the Milan Triennial. This year marks the third edition of the annual series, Tokyo Fiber/Senseware.

Tatsuya Matsui – Robot Design Seminar

Robot designer Tatsuya Matsui is known for his innovative humanoid robot creations Posy and Palette, the former having appeared in Lost in Translation and the latter (a robotic mannequin) featured in a Louis Vuitton shop in Paris.

©Flower Robotics Inc.

His company Flower Robotics, is actively working with robotics for real life. Whether for communication between man and machine, or for interactive retail installations, Flower Robotics is at the cutting edge of design and technology, both of which are crucial to making robots that humans can not only use, but connect emotionally with. Without design, the connection is lacking.

©Flower Robotics Inc.

The above photo is a CG rendering of the upcoming head pieces for Palette, which is expected to become a mass-produced item used in retail. After years of development, perhaps it’s now time for robotics to take center stage as both an example of Japan’s innovative power and as the next Big Technology that will further our lives.

Metropolis covered Matsui’s creations for an exhibition back in 2007 in a pretty good overview.

©Flower Robotics Inc.

On Monday, March 2nd at 7 p.m. Tatsuya Matsui will be giving a Robot Design Seminar at the Design Hub in Tokyo Midtown. To reserve a spot go to this link , and we’ll be there as well to get our own glimpse of our robotic future.