This Group received 188 entries from 79 companies, of which 65 entries from 32 companies, or 34.57%, received the G-Mark.
Most of the products submitted were building materials, components, and facilities for housing. The entries in this Category have not changed much in recent years, and they did not seem to exhibit much variety. Regrettably, we did not find any products with surprising new functions, anything that seemed to point the way to the next era, or many new designs. There were as many entries in mass-produced housing as ever, but in recent years, it has become difficult to ascertain just what mass-produced housing is, since the category include both housing built with 2 x 4 frames and housing built with methods much like existing buildings.
Furthermore, we welcome the first appearance of subdivided condominiums. In order to encourage more such entries in the future, it may be more meaningful to speak not of mass-produced housing but of product housing. If future competitions see more builders of houses and condominiums submitting "housing as merchandise," then the G-Mark will play a major role as a selection criterion for persons considering the purchase of housing.

 
EVALUATION OF DESIGN

Evaluation was based on screening criteria composed of three stages (good design, superior design, future-oriented design).
We took great pains to see everything we could in each product from the points of view of design, lifestyles, industry, and society. Numerous and diverse demands are placed on design these days. "Design" has long meant not only that the product itself is superior in form and accomplishment, but also that it fits many kinds of lifestyles and functions well.
In addition, the product should satisfy the user, and ideally, it should in some sense serve both the industry and society.
Matsushita's system bath "NAGOMI" Unirich breaks away from the cramped and cheap-looking image of the so-called "unit bath" and strives to be a comfortable facility that allows the consumer to relax and stretch out.
This is a consummate system, integrating such elements as the floor, heating, a bathroom dehumidifier, a shower that allows one to bathe while sitting down, barrier-free railings and floor surfaces, and indirect lighting. Consideration for the needs of the elderly and the disabled has been woven into the process in the form of universal design. Seeing the spacious, unusually-shaped bathtub and the seats lets one envision the kind of carefree daily communication that can occur among various combinations of a three-generation family.
These days, when the state of family relations is causing a number of social problems, this Category would like to give high marks to design that contributes to good communication within families. Japan's culture of the bath is unlike any other in the world, and this product takes Japan's unique love of bathing as it has come down to the present day and sets a new standard for the next century.
One could almost say that Matsushita's technical approach is perfect, but if the industry is aiming to create a twenty-first century bath culture for Japan, it will need to make further efforts to find forms and materials that appeal to the sensibilities of a broad range of the Japanese people.

 
FUTURE CHALLENGES

The performance of mass-produced housing is better than it used to be, and a variety of efforts have been made to improve the industry's response to concerns about barrier-free and earth-friendly buildings. However, buyers are still presented with conventional room layouts and exteriors that look Western down to the last detail. This housing was conceived within the framework of fantasies about achieving "modern living," as the Japanese people pursued prosperity during the postwar period of rapid growth. As a result, this kind of housing gives buyers the impression that it will actually contribute to a comfortable, happy family life.
The market for housing fixtures and components also seems to have created products for existing marketing frameworks. Yet, Japanese society is in the midst of major changes.
Consumers who are unimpressed with material things and money and more interested in living according to their own definition of abundance are beginning to make their desires known. Consumers should not view housing as a product that someone else provides ready-made. Instead, they should have housing that they themselves took part in planning and that helps them create a lifestyle.
Lifestyles for the next era that consumers, designers, and the housing industry can create together are what is needed. An important means of achieving that will be for the industry to position itself as generating proposals for consumers, using its products to elicit the individuality and creativity of its clients.
If the industry is to avoid complacency, it must accept the challenge of creating products based on consumers' suggestions. We hope that consumers will prove to be aware of the realities of their own lives and neither rush to buy something simply because it is a bit cheaper nor fall into the trap of usurping the role of the housing industry by making one-sided demands. Instead, we would like consumers to accept the industry and its products as partners in creating lifestyles that meet their individual needs.