Presentation Designing the Wind Masato Isaka Industrial Design Prof. Shizuoka University of Art and Culture / Exec. Director of Japan Institute of Design Today I would like to talk about "Designing the Quietness" by the key word the wind titled "Designing the Wind." The keynote speaker of the symposium said "Why the quietness now." To follow this keyword, I would like to re-define "Why the quietness now." Now we live in the world that nature and man made things are greatly apart from each other. So let me focus on the wind, a part of nature, as a window and a medium to feel nature in finding the "Quietness." I would dare to exaggerate by saying that human beings have lived their lives together with the wind. It is sure natural. The wind is created by air. If it is not for air, no human being can live. Therefore, it can be asserted that human beings have lived with the wind. Mr. Shimazaki showed us the map of Japan. As you saw it, Japan is an oblong country stretching from North to South. In this oblong island, there is a mountain range just like the backbone of the island. Between the ocean and the mountain range, various winds are blowing. The diagram at right hand side is showing a velocity of the wind. Blue area has the velocity of 4 meter or less per second. Red area has the velocity of ranging from 8 to 10 meters per second. The area in warm color has stronger wind velocity, that is. There are many kinds of cultures in these areas derived from the wind. This is a very famous picture depicting a spirit of wind at the right hand side. The picture is implying peopleﾕs feeling of awe of thunder and the wind as spirits. We have history of control and use of such wind. A shelterbelt is the evidence and result of the control leading to making a landscape. We still have many residential areas where houses are surrounded by a hedge. In a region with strong wind, people have tried to protect their houses by the hedges. The hedges make a landscape of the residential district. It is a little pity to know that hedged houses have been gradually decreasing these days because of their maintenance cost. Also the wind creates wind wrought pattern, a kind of formative sign of the wind on the sand of the seashore, called "Fumon" in Japanese. In Japan, we have many tourist spots where we can see many such landscapes. Further, there are cultures playing with the wind, a kite that is, many places in Japan. The picture here shows a grand festival in the region named Hamamatsu where people enjoy a kite battle with a kite about the size of a "tatami" mat. While this is the times that natural energy such as solar power has to be re-assessed on the earth with many environmental issues, wind power has been also utilized, as a part of such energy. Wind power generators are being built in many places over the world. A wind power generator has evolved to be a bigger one. The trend is a natural result to rationally use the wind and the generators have been gradually creating a new landscape. However, the trend has invited argument everywhere if such large scale machines still fit the beauty of nature. So I assume that those landscapes of shelterbelts and larger scale wind generators have been emerging in our long history of use and control of especially strong wind. On the other hand, we thought about a weak wind that only could ring a small Japanese style wind-bell in summer, for any use opposite to the strong one for the large-scale wind power generator. The place, where I am engaging in design education, usually has weak wind velocity at about 3 meters per second in wintertime located in the blue area in the wind velocity diagram. The wind in wintertime in the area is mostly dry and very chilly for our effective temperature. I have focused on this sort of wind, and am promoting "the wind project" in cooperation with colleagues in the university, students and local venture businesses to examine the use. So we are examining if any local identity can be created in the aspect of a product, a medium, space and a culture through the wind. I would like to show you the following as a part of the project. Currently one of my colleagues thought out a tiny wind generator about 20 centimeters in diameter among several projects that our team was working on. It generates about 3 volts of electricity for a tiny bulb. The illumination of the bulb varies for the weak wind velocity and telling the wind is there. Also a team member thought out a streetlight. The propeller of this case is 30 centimeter in diameter. When it comes to a wind-bell, it is transferring the wind into a sound. But the generator transfers the wind into a light. The product at left hand side is that my student designed. When the propeller is lighted, it reflects a circle of light in a physical phenomenon. This can be used for a kind of warning light. Right hand side product is also thought out by a student. The product you can see at left hand side is a radio made by a student. As he completed the radio and brought it outside of the building, the radio made a sound and he shouted, "It works!" At right hand side, you can see another product lighted as if it creates a flare. When they completed to create these works, what they concerned all in common was "Blowing wind please" as if they all of sudden realized they were facing nature. Another product is a sort of formulation machine of relativism. It creates the wind when a user run with it as a device we can feel the wind. Against a brutally strong wind, we also can place ourselves in a breeze. And through designing a calm wind into a product, we may be able to contemplate ourselves as a human being facing nature. So I assume that this might be a way of designing the "Quietness." Thus our project is still going on. Secretariat Japan Finland Design Association (Japan) c/o The Finnish Institute in Japan 3-5-39 Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 106-8561 c/o GK Graphics Incorporated telephone : 03-5952-6831 facsimile : 03-5952-6832 e-mail : jfda@gk-design.co.jp previous