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SUMMARY OF THE ADJUDICATION
The unique feature of the Public Use Products
Unit was the extremely wide range of entries. While we may be seeing
the effects of this being the first competition of the 21st century,
this may be due to going beyond the former narrow interpretation
of the word "public" and using it literally to include
a broad cross-section of product groups that have to do with people's
lives. Most of the products seemed to embody one of the principles
of the Chair of the Screening Committee, "Make user-friendliness
a priority," and I believe that this demonstrates the fundamental
ideals of public use products.
There was a total of 184 entries, or 30% more than
last year. The overall level of design was also high, and in both
the First and Second Adjudications, we needed to make quibbling
distinctions, and we had one heated argument after another. We can
safely say that this year's entries were several levels above last
year's in terms of both quality and quantity. I must admit, though,
that some products groups had not changed very much since last year,
one example being educational products. It was somewhat regrettable
that few products gave us a feeling for the definite changes that
education is undergoing currently (even if those changes are proceeding
more slowly than in the West). Similarly, few products offered something
for the young heirs of the next century to dream about or offered
strong suggestions for the future shape of education.
THE GOLD PRIZE WINNERS
Of all the products entered in this Unit,
the one that attracted particular attention was Yamaha Motor's specially
installed swimming pool SWIM 21. The powerful
impression it made at the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships
at Fukuoka in 2001 was not only an emotional experience to some
degree but also left behind a fresh and innovative image. Many people
know that the pool's 3 meter depth contributed to the setting of
a number of new records, but it is surprising how few of them know
that this pool was a special installation assembled for the occasion.
Installing and assembling the main part of the pool, the side decks,
the filtering materials, the pipes, and other components took two
weeks, and disassembling it took one week. By installing and dismantling
a pool at such an astonishing speed, Yamaha probably set some kind
of a world record itself. It also set some kind of a world record
for assembled pools by being precisely built enough to pass the
international certification standards for competitive swimming pools.
Under the current situation, where the economics of using arenas
and gymnasiums and other large facilities efficiently are viewed
as problematic, these specially installed assembled unit system
pools are expected to provide one of the answers. It has played
a major role in suggesting the direction design might take in the
21st century.
Furthermore, its joining technology, which can withstand 3 tons
of pressure per square meter, its FRP, which can hold up under long-term
repeated use, the composite modules of its basic concrete panels,
its soundproofing structure, which prevents poolside sounds from
reaching the swimmers, and other finely detailed design concepts
are right on the mark to meet the task assigned to G-Mark goods
in the 21st century, namely, "promoting exports of intangible
ideas from Japan to the world."
Another attention-grabbing product was Kongo's high-power
storage system HPZ. On the surface, it looks
like a simply and economically finished mobile shelf, but this storage
system is a veritable cornucopia of good ideas in that its components
exemplify the concepts of user friendliness, greater safety, and
greater economy, as well as being marvelously integrated.
The special feature of what might be called a hybrid mobile shelf
include the action of the shelves as they open and close like sliding
doors with a grip-style touch switch. Thanks to a combination of
a compact inverter designed in-house and a DC motor, it starts to
move in an almost uncanny way, sliding quietly with 80 to 100 grams
of hand pressure, even when loaded with 10 tons. It stops smoothly,
quickly, and easily because of its anti-lock braking system. It
also serves as an anti-vibration function which prevents the doors
from opening unexpectedly during an earthquake. If any document
or even one digital data medium (CD, CD-ROM, or MO, for example)
falls, the system quickly stop the shelf. Of course, the locks are
activated when people are inside.
It also fully meets the need for one of the greatest
concerns of the IT era, storage of digital data, and its fireproof
materials, developed by NASA to withstand temperatures of 1,300
degrees centigrade, are smartly finished. Removal and storage of
data are detected by installed sensors, and the items removed from
inventory are recorded and can be searched at any time by computer.
A security camera is installed to ensure the safety of the people
working inside the shelves, and the system that allows monitoring
from the outside will also become a required item in the coming
years.
Ventilation is provided by a thin titanium oxide air purifying system
that is patented worldwide and quietly blows fresh air in from the
front. This not only aids the preservation of documents and digital
data but also makes the entire space a healthier and more comfortable
environment. Despite being loaded with many high tech functions,
it seems gentle on the whole, and it has a way of putting at ease
the people who come into contact with it. This may be the harbinger
of new forms of user friendliness and human-machine interfaces that
will be demanded in the coming era. I would also like to add that
the concept of Japan's traditional form of universal design, fusuma-style
sliding doors, has been marvelously put to work in this high-tech
machine. We also gave this product high marks because of the way
that North European designers have learned directly from this particular
sterling quality of Japanese design.
In the preceding, I have mentioned two entries that
were worthy of special recognition, but both Yamaha Motor's SWIM
21 and Kongo's HPZ have both been
recognized for the strength of their proposals and their creative
concepts, SWIM 21 for its vision of future sporting
events and HPZ as a management system that brings about the harmony
between people and information that will be needed in the IT era.
The entire Screening Committee gave them superior marks for opening
new markets for 21st-century-style public use products.
Shinichi Yamamura
Chief Jury of Public Use Unit
President, COBO DESIGN CO., LTD.
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