Product Design alumnus Kenji Ekuan (BS 57), second from right, arrives in the United States in the 1950s.
It is with great sadness that we report on the passing of Product Design alumnus Kenji Ekuan (BS 57). The legendary industrial designer died on February 8, at the age of 85.
A former Buddhist monk and the founder of GK Design Group, Ekuan designed everything from the Akita Shinkansen high-speed train, Yahama VMAX motorcylces and the iconic Kikkoman soy sauce dispenser, the latter which resides in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection.
As NPR reported this morning, Ekuan’s decision to become a designer had roots in the bombing of Hiroshima in 1946, an attack which killed his sister and his father. ”Faced with brutal nothingness, I felt a great nostalgia for something to touch, something to look at,” he told Japanese broadcaster NHK. “The existence of tangible things is important. It’s evidence that we’re here as human beings.”
Last year, in response to requests from Hiroshima locals, the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum held an exhibition titled The World of Kenji Ekuan: A Great Master of Design, Hiroshima Produced, which displayed many of the designer’s most iconic products.
This past May, Ekuan was awarded the prestigious International Compasso d’Oro Award for lifetime achievement for, among other things, his contributions to promoting design both inside and outside of Japan.
Ekuan and Graphic Design alumna Tomo Ogino (BFA 12) at the Art Center Tokyo Reunion in December 2013.
Ekuan was part of the first wave of Japanese students to arrive at Art Center in the mid ‘50s, following a formal visit to Japan by Art Center executives at the invitation of the Japanese government.
Speaking with Dotted Line last year, Ekuan recalled what it was like to step off the plane that brought him to the United States: “I felt the vast land and the distinct atmosphere in my bones,” he said. “I also had a strong desire to learn fields of design that were unknown to me.”
In the same interview, Ekuan said the most valuable lesson he took away from Art Center was how to give a high-quality presentation. “The presentation was the only place for designers to have discussions with the executives,” he said. “So it was important to know how to convey your thoughts.”
Last December, he was the guest of honor at an Art Center Japanese alumni event held in the AXIS gallery in Tokyo, organized by Graphic Design alumna Tomo Ogino (BFA 12), Product Design alumnus Tatsuro Ushiyama (BS 10) and the College’s Alumni Relations office.
Kenji Ekuan’s iconic design of the Kikkoman soy sauce dispenser.
Today, in its obituary for Ekuan, Gizmodo wrote: “He was the voice behind some of the most compelling technologies of the 20th century … whose work articulated the speed and futurism of the modern age but never ignored the humans using it.”
And as Quartz reported today, Ekuan may have created his own perfect epitaph during a 2010 interview when he spoke of a product’s life cycle: “Just like a man is born, and becomes old, ill and dies … even in a factory, things are born, they have very useful years, and they finally die. It’s all the same.”
