During an interview with its adviser Mr. Yrj Sotamaa, president of Helsinki Art University, by an Editorial Committee member of the Japan Institute of Design (JD), an inter-disciplinary design organization in Japan, both found that "Quietness" lies at the bottom of designs of both countries.
Prior to this interview, Kenji Ekuan, JD chairman and president of the Design for the World, and Yrj Sotamaa had discussed establishing an organization through which designers of the two countries could interact on a regular basis. And the day following the interview, a meeting to establish the Japan-Finland Design Association was held with Yrjo Sotamaa and interested members in Japan. At this meeting, it was agreed that the initial exchange meeting would be organized in Helsinki and the second one in Tokyo, after which design exhibitions be held in both countries with the theme "The Design of Quietness."
Along with this agreement, the Japan-Finland Design Association in Japan was established while the Finland-Japan Design Association was established in Finland. The inaugural conference titled "White Night Symposium on Quietness" was held from June 18 to 24, 2000 in Helsinki. Participants from Japan were Kenji Ekuan, Chairman of the Board of Councillors, Makoto Shimazaki, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Osamu Ishiyama, Takemichi Ito, Keiko Torigoe, Aya Nakayama, Hiroko Watanabe and Masato Isaka, all members of the Board of Directors, Daizaburo Murai, Secretary General, and Jukka Viitanen of The Finnish Institute In Japan who acted as a liaison. From Finland, Yrj Sotamaa, Severi Blomstedt, Simo Heikkila, Barbro Kulvik, Yrj穫 Levanto, Tapani Aartomaa, Anne Stenros, Antti Siltavuori, Matti Rautiola, Esa Laaksonen, Markku Kosonen and Yrj Wiherheimo were present.
The first day of the conference was designated to be "Architecture Day." The participants visited the Alvar Aalto Memorial Hall and the Architecture
Faculty of Helsinki Institute of Technology and had discussions with people there.
The second day was "Design Day" when the participants visited Hackman/Arabia Co. Ltd. and Helsinki Art University and exchanged conversations with the employees and teachers.
On the third day, the venue of the meeting was moved to Fiskars Design Village to have the symposium sessions. After the orientation by Yrj Sotamaa and the keynote speech by Kenji Ekuan, presentations by participants from the two countries were delivered on the theme of "The Design of Quietness." Topics in Japanese presentations ranged from the mental image created by SHISHIODOSHI (a device to lead water to a bamboo pipe balance that makes sound when the water is emptied and one side of the
balance hits a stone) to frighten birds and small animals that are aiming at crops and fruits in farming lands, important elements in HAIKU poetry and traditional garden landscaping in Japan, to state-of-the art kinetic art. In Finnish presentations, the design of quietness observed in the use of nature and time, eight definitions of the design of quietness, and the quiet state of mind taking Finnish tango as an example were discussed.
During the discussion, "the Design of Quietness" was approached from ample angles ranging from traditional and contemporary designs and the latest development in design. The symposium concluded that the discussion would continue in the forthcoming meeting in Tokyo, and that the results would be displayed in design exhibitions to be held later.
On the final "Culture Day," the participants visited the "Hotel Exhibition" and "Wood Exhibition" being held in Fiskars Design Village.
Designer exchange between the two countries began with the Design Conference held in Helsinki, Finland in 1986 and one in Hokkaido, Japan in 1987. Following the first conference by the Finland-Japan Design Association in 2000, the Japan-Finland Design Association will hold the second conference in Tokyo in April 2001. The fruit of the first conference was the confirmation made by both parties that we could contribute to designs and culture of the two countries by continuing the discussion on "the Design of Quietness." (Masat
o Isaka)
Secretariat