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Morphopoiesis
Title: Morphopoiesis–Practices of the Department of Science of Design, Musashino Art UniversityDates: September 26 – October 19, 2025
Venue: West Bund Museum | Art Window
Organizers:RPDC Design Week、Musashino Art University Department of Basic Design、College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University
Co-organizer:atama.works
Exhibiting Artists
Kenya Hara, Akio Kobayashi, Ryoji Tanaka, Takaaki Bando, Seiichi Hishikawa, Kohei Shimizu,Haruka Misawa, Daijiro Ohara, Kota Iguchi, Shunta Sakamoto, Jujiro Maki, Akihiro Kumagai,Hirokazu Matsuda, Lily Ongartthaworn, Dongliang Geng, Ko Morishima, Yoichi Azegami,Mika Tada, Kota Hirakawa, Midori Serizawa, Di Wu, Asuka Ishizaka, Kaier Wu,Risako Tomita, Miyuna Koyama, Hikaru Miyata, Junyi Zhang, Katsuaki Kobayashi, Peng Chen,Ruida Si, Park Dongwon, Yuki Tomihara, HaoWen Chen, Sakiko Sasahara, Eriko Ishii,
Yoko Eda, Takuma Kamata, Hitomi Sato, Miho Kato, Xin Zhong, Miyuki Kakutani,
and other student works
Exhibition Team
Curators:Ryoji Tanaka, Kiyonori Muroga, Peng Chen, Qin Du
Curatorial Assistants:HaoWen Chen, Shaofan Zhou, Hana Miyamoto, Masamune Kato
Spatial Design:Yufan Lu
Wayfinding & Graphic Design:Zijun Yang （notadesign）
Documentary Team:Peng Chen, Zewen Nie, Yuming Qiu, Eri Takeuchi, Yongqi Lin, Yutong Wang, Kiyonori Muroga
Special Thanks:Xiaohongshu，Musashino Art University Department of Science of Design Laboratory, Semitransparent Design, Zihui Li, Yuli Liu, Zhu Chen, Longtai Shi,Lanxu Huang, Ailin, Dan Ding, Siyi Hong, Jingbo Li，xiaohongshu
The term “design” has long permeated every aspect of our lives and media. Throughout the 20th century, the development of design was always closely tied to specific industries and their products. Since the late 20th century, however, with the advancement of digital technologies, informatization has continuously expanded the scope of what “design” encompasses—extending from the creation of tangible objects to the domains of events and processes.
This trend is evident in the emergence of various new forms of design in recent years, such as Social Design and Design Thinking. At the same time, however, the market logic and digital information technologies that drive these practices have also profoundly impacted social structures, raising numerous questions regarding economic disparity and the conditions of life itself.
For a long time, discussions on design have tended to be confined to commercial or technological dimensions. Yet today, we may find ourselves in a situation where it has become necessary to reconsider “design” from the perspective of its relations to human life-worlds. Looking back, since its emergence in the late 19th century, design has always been a process of re-examining technology through social and cultural perspectives, and reweaving it into the human life-world.
The Department of Science of Design, Musashino Art University, was conceived and founded by Shutaro Mukai in 1967. It is one of the earliest academic programs in the world to have keenly recognized the inherently social nature of design, and to have persistently explored relevant theories and practices. The department was established in the 1960s, a period when the rapid industrial expansion of design had brought environmental problems and consumerism to the forefront of social debate.
Mukai studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Ulm in West Germany, a school that carried forward the legacy of the Bauhaus, where he was exposed to avant-garde design thought and the evolution of modern design. Against this background, he began to envision a discipline that could transcend the challenges posed by modernization and aim at shaping an ideal life-world—what he called the “Science of Design.” In this sense, the “Science” of Design does not refer to a technical foundation, but rather—much like basic research in the sciences—points to the fundamental principles underpinning the entirety of design activity.
With a cross-disciplinary and integrative curriculum, the department has continuously explored fundamental questions of human beings and nature, as well as pressing social and cultural issues, cultivating generations of creators with diverse perspectives who are active across many fields in Japan. Today, under the leadership of Professor Kenya Hara and a distinguished faculty team, the department attracts students from all over the world.
This exhibition, titled “Morphopoiesis”, marks the first collective appearance of the Department of Science of Design in China. The title refers to the conjunction of “morpho”—the forms ceaselessly generated amid the oscillation of archetypes and individuality—and “poiesis”—the poetics of creation. Together, they point toward a philosophical practice of “world-making.”
The exhibition brings together decades of coursework, graduation projects, and representative works by both faculty members and alumni. These works may be understood as practices of reweaving and reconnection in response to an era defined by advanced information technologies and the fragmentation of everyday life. From this perspective, “design” emerges as a discipline fundamentally concerned with life itself. Accordingly, the exhibition is not organized chronologically or thematically, but rather reconfigured along the “scales” of works, in order to create an open space where audiences from diverse backgrounds can focus on and experience the intrinsic vitality of design.
With the support of RPDC Design Week, the “Science of Design,” which originated in the context of Western modern design, can now be re-examined and reinterpreted within the broader horizon of Chinese culture. We hope this exhibition will serve as a new opportunity for audiences in China to reflect upon the relationship between contemporary society and design.
Kiyonori Muroga
Co-Curator of Morphopoiesis