Isamu Kenmochi Biography
Isamu Kenmochi is a famous Japanese designer who is considered one of the precursors of industrial design in his country. Using his travel experiences, he adapted foreign production methods and took advantage of technological advances, thus contributing to the formation of a modern, dual identity in Japanese design. This identity is characterized by rational production that coexists in harmony with traditional practices.
After graduating from the Institute of Industrial Arts (IAI) in Tokyo in 1932, Isamu Kenmochi continued his studies at the Institute in Sendai, developing possible applications of plywood in aeronautics during World War II. After Japan's defeat, the country came under American administration. Isamu Kenmochi was involved in the reconstruction of the country both theoretically and materially: he participated in the development of government-led standardization policies and fostered the development of the furniture sector as a separate industrial sphere. He held positions of responsibility at the IAI, a powerful government body, and thus helped define the new landscape of Japanese design.
In 1955, Isamu Kenmochi decided to leave the public context and found his own agency. In 1956, he opened his own shop, Living Art, where he presented his own creations and those of other designers, always with modernity as a guide. Niimi Ryu, professor at Musashino University of Art, considers Isamu Kenmochi "the most important personality of Japanese modernity", capable of combining natural materials and Japanese craft techniques with modern forms and mass production. The Japanese pavilion he created in collaboration with architect Kunio Maekawa (1905-1986) for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, for which they received a Grand Prize, is a perfect example.
The trip to the United States made in 1952 greatly influenced Isamu Kenmochi's outlook on his profession. Then the young director of the design department at the new IAI, he was sent on an official seven-month mission to study design, industry and the American economy. During his stay, he also met the most important designers of the time, such as Charles (1907-1978) and Ray (1912-1988) Eames, Marcel Breuer (1902-1981), Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969). Although post-war Japan was largely influenced by the American Way of Life, Isamu Kenmochi was surprised to find that American design was heavily influenced by Japanese and Scandinavian creations. In his baggage he brought new industrial considerations, deciding to adapt them to Japanese needs.
In 1961, Isamu Kenmochi declared his practice to be "cutting edge" and said he was "proud of the fact that it fell within the direct line of the 180-year history of the modern movement, which is a movement of modernization of everyday life." His suicide death in 1971 marks the tragic fate of a designer who dedicated his entire life to defining and recognizing modern Japanese design both nationally and internationally.
