In short, I think it’s “applying artistic inspiration to shape your idea.” Many companies have introduced Logical Thinking to their practices, which rather focuses on logical reasoning, whereas Art Thinking trusts more on your intuition and even on your sixth sense. For example, speaking of my personal experience as a professor at Geidai (Tokyo University of the Arts), some students bring their prototypes at the first meeting where they are supposed to present their ideas, saying, “I just made this.” Oftentimes, they don’t even know what it is about and where the idea comes from. Art Thinking is a way of thinking that welcomes illogical outputs and encourages people to reflect on them later. By going through the process, people would figure out how they can communicate their idea to others.

After an assignment, I ask students to write texts on their works. This is a method called Design Reflection, advocated by Takeshi Sunaga (former professor at Geidai). This process gives them clear thoughts about their works and in the end, they make an excellent presentation.

In the industry-academia collaborative project with Kao (a Japanese cosmetic brand), Art Thinking was introduced to develop a concept for their training center, New Yukei-juku. At the first meeting, the project manager told me that they were interested in applying artistic thinking to the project and they wanted me to define the new concept. But I proposed that we should do it together since it was going to be their place. With the help of professors from Geidai’s design department, we developed an architectural plan by going through various steps of Art Thinking, such as sketching to improve their observation skills and building with LEGO blocks to think with their hands. The participants seemed to think they were not capable of designing a building at first, but we invited some students, enjoyed working together, and ended up having many unique ideas.

We live in an age where working remotely is possible anywhere as long as we have a computer and Wi-Fi, but it still seems to be inflexible. I remember there used to be a space in the office called “Refresh Room”. I wonder if it is really possible to refresh your mood just by going into the room. Instead, I propose creating many versatile indoor and outdoor spaces, such as a green oasis where people can chat, or take a break and meditate, that allow people to work anywhere. Perhaps offices will ultimately become like a cozy town.

It’d be good to have something inspiring around, which is usually missing in workplaces. It can be a painting, or a natural environment you feel through your eyes, ears, and skin. You might just stare at a bug, like a child. It could be anything. Art in a broad sense is something that affects your mind, not just something hung in the living room . There is a common misunderstanding that Art means just paintings and sculptures, but the idea of Art has been expanding rapidly in recent years. You would understand what I mean if you come and see what the University of the Arts’ students are doing today. They are all different and you would come across some works that make you wonder, “Is this Art?”

Place Design, which is my specialty, covers a wide range of fields such as architecture, landscapes, and furniture to reach a design solution and sometimes it could be a combination of these.

MTK is a unique building with business offices and a museum named Artizon Museum. But I think there is more potential to take advantage of the space to fully integrate Art into the business fields. For example, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, had been originally used as an office (Uffizi) for several government authorities, but later a part of the offices became a museum since art pieces from the Medici family were exhibited to the public there. I imagine it would be interesting if MTK can let people work anywhere they want in the building even in front of a painting by Cezanne in the Artizon Museum.

One thing important is to let MTK tenants make the most of this unique environment. For Kao’s New Yukei-juku plan, I proposed the facility should feel like you are in Dejima (Japan’s only trading post during the isolationist Edo Period), meaning the workers can embrace the feeling of being “outside within the inside,” just by stepping into New Yukei-juku from their workplaces. Working overtime has been reduced because of the government’s workstyle reform in recent years.

However, the workers said they often come up with new ideas while chatting with colleagues after work. So, I thought that New Yukei-juku could be a place to refresh their mood as if they are outside the office. Perhaps this type of use can be explored for the Artizon Museum. Something that would become a privilege for the tenants.

With a declining population and fewer visitors, it may be inefficient to stick to the traditional concept of an art museum. I believe the functions of art museums can be more adjusted to the needs of visitors. Today, the necessity of social design and social prescribing is advocated, and Art in a broader sense, or “something inspiring” in other words, is sought after. I think the role of art museums in the future is to become more open and provide inspiring opportunities to more people.

In the case of the Artizon Museum, a staged approach is an option, such as opening a part of the exhibition rooms to MTK tenants as a first step, and to the city in the next step. It's an experiment to see what will happen and what kind of opinions will emerge by partially opening an exhibition room to the tenants, for example. I believe it’s important to repeat such experiments little by little.