AN OVERVIEW OF THE UNIT

Since manufactured housing has been moved to the Architecture Category, the Product Design Category Family Use Unit 4 now covers kitchen, bath, toilet, and other plumbing fixtures, air conditioners and ventilators, other facilities and fixtures, and interior and exterior components. There were 129 entries, quite a decrease from the previous year, even considering the fact that manufactured housing is no longer in this Unit. However, an unprecedented percentage of entries won prizes—53 entries, or 41.1%. The Screening Committee was not particularly generous in its evaluations, so it would be inaccurate to say that the products were not of a reasonably high level. However, taken as a whole, we are regrettably forced to admit that none of the entries had an emotional impact.

MAIN TENDENCIES IN PRODUCT DESIGN

The Gold Prize winner from this Unit, INAX's shower-toilet, the SATIS, is a radical departure from what we have seen in conventional toilets and toilet seats, designs with an abundance of necessary features added. It eliminates the low tank and uses a direct flushing system that can be used at ordinary water pressure, and the operating parts are removed from the main unit right from the start. This and other features make the compact size and shape possible. The designer has rethought the design of the toilet from the ground up, and the result is a revolutionary new product. In most years, we see a lot of washstands, bath units, and compact kitchen units among the entries, and this year was similar. Since almost all the products achieved a nearly uniform level, we demanded an unprecedentedly high level of quality, even in functionality, whether that meant further refinement of existing functions, consideration for the tiniest details, easy maintenance, or user friendliness. For example, when looking at compact kitchen units, we assigned greater value to designs that aimed for efficiency in basic cooking functions than to designs that called attention to themselves through the use of gaudy pastel colors. Some of the bath units were even eliminated from consideration because they harked back to the flashy, overly luxurious design of the bubble era.

In keeping with the times, photovoltaic (solar battery) panels accounted for several entries, but they did more than just make use of solar energy. Instead, the standards for the screening were set by solar panels that neither looked out of place as architectural finishing materials nor seemed particularly unusual as electrical devices. Visually jarring panels that seemed to be awkwardly attached and those with obviously visible silver-colored electrodes were eliminated from consideration. As in most years, there were a number of distributor cabinets, intercoms, and fire detection devices among the entries, but like the air conditioners described below, conditions for selection included harmony with the architectural space and the lack of meaningless self-assertion.

There were several interesting entries among construction materials as well. Panels made up of three layers of cedar board is a natural material and an improvement over the disadvantages of single-layer boards. Eco-ceramics harden without firing, so they have a Japanese-style feeling with a hint of traditional plastering fibers. There were also slip-resistant, stain-resistant flooring materials. All of these were rather understated, but they received good marks.
Unfortunately, the written displayed and the symbolic graphics adversely affected some designs that suggested a great deal of care taken with the form. Even the toilet that won the Gold Prize had particularly noticeable written symbols displayed in the middle of it, which harmed its otherwise carefully honed outward appearance.

SELF-ASSERTIVE DESIGN AND DESIGN WITHIN AN ARCHITECTURAL SPACE

Looked at individually, the room air conditioners of recent years cannot exactly be said to hare inappropriate designs, but they exhibit a strong feeling of self-assertion, with blue lights and large character displays right in the middle of the unit. An odd type of styling reminiscent of video game players seems to be in fashion.
The reason that air conditioners are needed in interior spaces is to provide a comfortable temperature and humidity environment. The actual apparatus, which is no more than a means to this end, has become self-assertive, and this is putting the cart before the horse. There is no need for an air conditioner to display useless information or to assert that it is currently in operation.

We also saw products with the more conventional type of subdued design, but they have barely changed for several years. Similarly, many individual products have complete designs from beginning to end. After all this time they were deemed to lack sufficient value to be selected for the G-Mark. As a result, we faced the unprecedented situation of eliminating all the air conditioners from consideration this year.
The problem was not limited to air conditioners. What makes an architectural installation or device fit into its space is ultimately the design of the device or product. The design of air conditioners is losing sight of its true role and heading off in the wrong direction. We are forced to say that an unfortunate trend is evident. We on the Screening Committee would like designers to understand that our eliminating all the air conditioners from the competition is an urgent warning against the design trends described here.

Tsunehiro Manabe
Chief Jury in Unit 4
Professor, Science University of Tokyo