This annual design event, which this year explores the theme of designing for a sustainable future, sees the vast grass square across from Tokyo Midtown host three large-scale installations that adults will appreciate as imposing abstract sculptures. Kids, meanwhile, are welcome to climb all over them.
Together, this trio of giant rings forms ‘Logging Hill’, a creation by up-and-coming Tokyo-architect Taichi Kuma. Besides marvelling at their form or clambering over them, visitors are invited to place special stickers on the rings to form a colourful record of public participation that will grow over the event’s duration. On the afternoon of October 20 (3pm-4pm), Logging Hill will also be the venue for a one-off live session by acclaimed musician Shuta Hasunuma.
Also on the Design Touch program is another outdoor installation, ‘Urban Voice’, located in Midtown Garden and designed by architect Eri Tsugawa. Here, a group of primitive-looking concrete objects, based on a 3D scan of the garden’s micro-topography, will investigate how people react to objects that appear in otherwise empty space.
These must-see al fresco artworks are accompanied by a string of events including guided tours, workshops, talk events and the Tokyo Midtown Award 2024 Exhibition, which showcases the results of a design and art contest aiming to discover and support new art and design talents.