Design for the Public Good
VIEW EVENT DETAILSEvening Presentation
Registration: 6:45pm
Presentation: 7:00pm
Close: 8:00pm
Conducted in Japanese with English interpretation.
In his search for creating an environment that cultivates sensibility, Eiji Mitooka creates designs that combine his unique ideas with local characteristics. These designs are not independent but extends from the train car to the station and to the whole community, creatively engaging in people’s daily lives. Through his design, Mr. Mitooka strikes to “provide a fun and beautiful time and space for everybody.” In this talk, Mr. Mitooka will discuss his design concepts and explore the sense of hospitality incorporated into his works.
Eiji Mitooka’s projects will be available for free public viewing at Asia Society Hong Kong Center on October 25 and 26 from 11:00am to 6:00pm.
Eiji Mitooka was born in Okayama Prefecture in 1947. In 1972, he founded Don Design Associates, and the company oversees multifaceted aspects of design projects from public architecture, such as train stations and libraries, to railway cars and “Ekiben” bento box graphics. Above all, his designs of stations and railway cars* for JR Kyushu attract a great deal of attention not only from railway fans but also from the general public. Mr. Mitooka has received many awards including the Brunel Award, which is the only international design competition for train design. Mr. Mitooka’s most noted works include “Kyushu Shinkansen” and the award-winning Cruise Train “Seven Stars in Kyushu” – “Seven Stars in Kyushu” was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize at the first “Japan Service Award.”
*Apart from the JR Kyushu train cars including the Cruise Train "Seven Stars in Kyushu" and the Kyushu Shinkansen 800 series & the Limited Express 787 series, Mitooka also designed Design & Story (D&S) trains such as the JR Kyushu Sweet train “A Train (Aru Ressha)”, JR Hakata City, JR Oita City, the Kyoto Tango railway "Akamatsu-Aomatsu-Kuromatsu”, the Hisatsu Orange Railway Co. Ltd. “Orange Restaurant Express” and “Akune Station”, "Rokumon" for Shinano Railway Co. Ltd., Okayama Electric Tramway Co. Ltd's tramcar "MOMO", the "Ichigo (strawberry) Train", the "Omocha (toy) Train", the "Tama Train" and “Tama Station” for Wakayama Electric Railway Co. Ltd., the train cars for the “Fujisan View Express", the "Fujitouzan Train", and the "Fujisan Station" for Fiji Kyuko Co. Ltd.
Co-presented with the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong