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June 4, 2007

Ichiro Shiomi

Designers must take a step back to view things objectively, and consider how to make their stores fit in with the street and transform them into comfortable components of the streetscape.
Producing profits for owners and customers is important, but it is also important to have an unbiased viewpoint and add a pinch of balance to a design to develop something beneficial for all.



Mr. Ichiro Shiomi, president of spinoff, expresses his ideas about “design” below.
The third special feature covers not only the design of commercial facilities, but also features Mr. Ichiro Shiomi, who is actively working in various fields, to try to grasp his ideas about design.
Career
1962 Born in Hyogo pref.
1984 Graduated Osaka University of Arts, Design department.
Entered company known as "interior design office nob".
1992 Established Is Architects and Associates
1999 Established spinoff



"Now, it has been some twenty years since you started your own business. Mr. Ichiro Shiomi, how did you become “Designer Ichiro Shiomi”?"
I entered an art college after graduating from high school. At that time, I didn’t have any serious ideas about becoming a designer.
I entered college in the ’80s; in those days, the job of a copywriter drew public attention, and people came to feel interested in the ad industry. In these circumstances, I chose an art college, with the aim of entering the ad industry.
In the year I graduated from the college, being introduced by the shop manager of my part-time workplace, I visited a real interior design office, “interior design office nob,” for the first time, and I was impressed by the real designs and their sense. I asked the office to allow me to become an apprentice.
In college, I couldn’t get realistic information on actual practices, so it was difficult to clearly imagine a designer’s work. To be honest, I didn’t have a clear goal when I was studying interior design. But, after visiting the office, I was able to take aim at designer’s work seriously.

After graduating from college, I joined “interior design office nob,” and became the chief of the Tokyo office. At that time, I had no plan to start my own business. That time was the heyday of the bubble, and after the bubble collapsed, we talked about closing the Tokyo office. This motivated me to start my own business.
I worked as the chief of the Tokyo office from the first year of my employment, where I experienced a responsible position. At that time, I never thought about moving to another office. Instead, I always mulled over how to improve my own office. In this light, there are no great differences between before and after the start of my own business. The site and staff of the office were simply transferred without any change.

Around the time when I started my own business, interior designers were becoming involved in architecture. My superiors at the office and I had interests in architecture, and thought a link between architecture and interior design to be natural, so I obtained qualifications and registered my office as an architectural office.
However, my core business is interior design, so I was often entrusted with interior design tasks, and I realized that there are slight differences between the way projects progress in interior design and construction. I had no experience of dealing with a full-scale construction project, so I had some difficulties in dealing with that kind of project.
The current trend is such that a design office and a construction office will cooperate and work together as a team.
During the early days, after I started my own business, there were several difficulties, but I could gain some hints for the next job by dealing with each task diligently. Recently, I get tasks through recommendations. I deeply appreciate my superiors at the design office I worked for before. Their methods of work influenced me to a great degree. There have been few chances to meet with them since I started my own business, but I will always respect them greatly.


　


"It has been some twenty years since you started working in the interior design field in 1984. What has changed over these twenty years?"
First is the recognition of designers.
Before, designers were like writers, and they recognized designs as works that expressed their own sense of values, and it seems that they did not think about business people or consumers. At present, it seems important to consider how to embody the business model or business image a business firm has.
Before, most restaurants were private stores, and it was difficult for them to raise funds for interior design, but since companies entered the restaurant industry, commercial design has become quite common, and more people recognize interior design. I think this influence has been large.

"How do you feel about Japanese and foreign designs?"
I strongly feel that my DNA is Japanese.
Every design has an aim. The Japanese taste is not always consistent with that aim. So, I don’t go out of my way to attempt to reflect the Japanese taste in my work just because that’s where my roots are, but when I add Japanese taste to my work, I feel “the Japanese” appears naturally.
In addition, not only in design, I think the Japanese way of using space and atmosphere is excellent. I think such excellence exists in paintings and calligraphy as well as architecture. I think this is produced by the unique Japanese culture and values that emphasize others, differing from foreign cultures that emphasize self.

"What is important for designers?"
Owners tend to put their attentions to the improvement of their own stores, so designers must take a step back to view things objectively, and consider how to make their stores fit in with the street and transform them to comfortable components of the streetscape.
Unless a designer reads atmosphere and creates a good design for everyone, including the owner, consumers, and other surrounding people, even if the store is outstanding in the architectural sense, the excellence of the architecture will not be conveyed to people, and then the excellence of the store will not be conveyed to people.
Any owner who plans to open a store has strong ideals and a sense of value. But in actuality these are sometimes not visible to consumers. That being said, if we are overly concerned with the sensibilities of consumers, we can’t produce profits.
Therefore, we must not only take into account the arguments and opinions of owners, but we must also have an unbiased viewpoint and add a pinch balance to develop something beneficial for all.

"Lastly, could you talk about your future goals?"
Over the past ten or twenty years, the design field has changed dramatically, and designers have changed their viewpoint from that of a writer to a commercial one. Through such changes, everything, including architecture and graphic design, is crossing industry borders and making every field borderless. I cannot cope with all of these things. I hope that experts in each field will cooperate in a single project. I actively cooperate with sculptors and graphic designers, and discuss interior design for brand development, working with various people in response to needs. I would like to strengthen this team further, and always offer ideal designs.




spinoff
ADDRESS : Kyoden Building 6F, 2-8-2 Ebisu-Minami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
URL : http://spinoff.cc/

entry dj : June 4, 2007 5:15 PM