OPEN VOCABULARY
― 開かれたデザインボキャブラリー ―
荒川技研工業が50年以上にわたり培ってきた吊り金物システムを、建築やデザインのための「開かれた構成要素」として捉え直したとき、新たな空間表現の可能性が立ち上がります。
本展では、フランス人建築家・デザイナーのGala Espel（ガラ・エスペル）が、荒川技研工業 表参道ショールーム「TIERS」の展示空間刷新に伴い、Arakawaシステムを独自の視点で再解釈します。
吊る・留める・固定する・接続するといった本来の機能を超えて、パーツを再構成し、組み替え、移動させることで、家具や空間における新たな表現の可能性を探ります。
展示空間では、接合部そのものを際立たせる構成によって、空間に緊張感のある幾何学的なラインが立ち上がります。
また、日本各地の職人やメーカーとの協働を通じ、陶磁器、木工、漆、金工、照明など、多様な素材や技術を取り入れています。Arakawaシステムの工業的な精度と、手仕事ならではの素材の表情やゆらぎが交差することで、新たな関係性が生まれます。
TIERS GALLERYではGala Espel氏によるインスタレーション展示を展開し、2Fショールームでは素材や技術を実際の空間へ展開したテーブルや棚、パーティションをご覧いただけます。
本展は、ショールームの刷新を記念するだけでなく、荒川技研工業が次の50年に向けて、異分野との協働や実験を通じた新たな空間表現を探求するための試みでもあります。
A creative exploration of the Arakawa Grip by French architect and designer Gala Espel.
Originally conceived to suspend, attach, secure and connect, the Arakawa system is reimagined here as an open vocabulary for architecture and design.
Looking beyond its conventional applications, Gala Espel assembles, displaces and recombines its elements to explore new spatial and material possibilities.
Developed through collaborations with Japanese artisans and manufacturers, the exhibition brings Arakawa’s engineered precision into dialogue with ceramics, lacquer, hammered metal, woodwork and other craft practices.
Industrial components encounter handmade materials whose value lies in texture, irregularity and the traces of making.
A graphic language emerges through compositions that foreground fastening details and suspended geometries.
Across the exhibition, furniture, partitions and hanging structures reveal new relationships between assembly systems, material expression and spatial composition.
At the centre of the exhibition, a suspended installation invites visitors to slide, rotate and reconfigure its elements, transforming the system into a playful and interactive spatial experience.
The exhibition unfolds across both TIERS GALLERY and the showroom space, presenting Arakawa not only as a functional system, but as a platform for experimentation, collaboration and new forms of spatial expression.
French architect and designer working between Paris and Tokyo, Gala Espel develops projects at the intersection of design, architecture and craftsmanship. A graduate of ECAL, her practice is grounded in traditional techniques reinterpreted through contemporary design — producing objects, environments and narratives that contribute to the long-term development of craft ecosystems.
Her work has been recognised by institutions including the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller, the French Ministry of Culture, Villa Albertine and Villa Noailles, and presented at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, le 19M (CHANEL), Design Miami, DESIGNART Tokyo, DESIGNTIDE Tokyo, Milan Design Week and Paris Design Week.
Over the past two years, she has focused her research on Japan’s manufacturing and craft landscape, developing collaborations with workshops across metal, wood, lacquer, straw, ceramics, washi, textile and architectural fabrication. At the intersection of artisanal techniques and industry, she develops projects where distinct modes of making coexist and inform one another. Through these exchanges, she investigates how craft knowledge, innovation and production can converge to shape new forms of material culture.
https://www.galaespel.com/
https://www.instagram.com/galaespel
― 開かれたデザインボキャブラリー ―
荒川技研工業が50年以上にわたり培ってきた吊り金物システムを、建築やデザインのための「開かれた構成要素」として捉え直したとき、新たな空間表現の可能性が立ち上がります。
本展では、フランス人建築家・デザイナーのGala Espel（ガラ・エスペル）が、荒川技研工業 表参道ショールーム「TIERS」の展示空間刷新に伴い、Arakawaシステムを独自の視点で再解釈します。
吊る・留める・固定する・接続するといった本来の機能を超えて、パーツを再構成し、組み替え、移動させることで、家具や空間における新たな表現の可能性を探ります。
展示空間では、接合部そのものを際立たせる構成によって、空間に緊張感のある幾何学的なラインが立ち上がります。
また、日本各地の職人やメーカーとの協働を通じ、陶磁器、木工、漆、金工、照明など、多様な素材や技術を取り入れています。Arakawaシステムの工業的な精度と、手仕事ならではの素材の表情やゆらぎが交差することで、新たな関係性が生まれます。
TIERS GALLERYではGala Espel氏によるインスタレーション展示を展開し、2Fショールームでは素材や技術を実際の空間へ展開したテーブルや棚、パーティションをご覧いただけます。
本展は、ショールームの刷新を記念するだけでなく、荒川技研工業が次の50年に向けて、異分野との協働や実験を通じた新たな空間表現を探求するための試みでもあります。
A creative exploration of the Arakawa Grip by French architect and designer Gala Espel.
Originally conceived to suspend, attach, secure and connect, the Arakawa system is reimagined here as an open vocabulary for architecture and design.
Looking beyond its conventional applications, Gala Espel assembles, displaces and recombines its elements to explore new spatial and material possibilities.
Developed through collaborations with Japanese artisans and manufacturers, the exhibition brings Arakawa’s engineered precision into dialogue with ceramics, lacquer, hammered metal, woodwork and other craft practices.
Industrial components encounter handmade materials whose value lies in texture, irregularity and the traces of making.
A graphic language emerges through compositions that foreground fastening details and suspended geometries.
Across the exhibition, furniture, partitions and hanging structures reveal new relationships between assembly systems, material expression and spatial composition.
At the centre of the exhibition, a suspended installation invites visitors to slide, rotate and reconfigure its elements, transforming the system into a playful and interactive spatial experience.
The exhibition unfolds across both TIERS GALLERY and the showroom space, presenting Arakawa not only as a functional system, but as a platform for experimentation, collaboration and new forms of spatial expression.
French architect and designer working between Paris and Tokyo, Gala Espel develops projects at the intersection of design, architecture and craftsmanship. A graduate of ECAL, her practice is grounded in traditional techniques reinterpreted through contemporary design — producing objects, environments and narratives that contribute to the long-term development of craft ecosystems.Her work has been recognised by institutions including the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller, the French Ministry of Culture, Villa Albertine and Villa Noailles, and presented at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, le 19M (CHANEL), Design Miami, DESIGNART Tokyo, DESIGNTIDE Tokyo, Milan Design Week and Paris Design Week.
Over the past two years, she has focused her research on Japan’s manufacturing and craft landscape, developing collaborations with workshops across metal, wood, lacquer, straw, ceramics, washi, textile and architectural fabrication. At the intersection of artisanal techniques and industry, she develops projects where distinct modes of making coexist and inform one another. Through these exchanges, she investigates how craft knowledge, innovation and production can converge to shape new forms of material culture.
https://www.galaespel.com/
https://www.instagram.com/galaespel