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Home > About Us > News & Events > 2009/09/02 - Royal College of Art Exhibition at Chappell 19-26 September 2009

Royal College of Art Exhibition at Chappell 19-26 September 2009

  Concept Designs

Concept DesignsChappell of Bond Street, in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, and Yamaha, is delighted to host the exhibition 'Making Fun Serious', from Saturday 19th September to Saturday 26th September 2009.

The project 'Making Fun Serious' was set in motion by three parties. YAMAHA DESIGN STUDIO LONDON is run by product designer Kunihiro Takei. Platform 2 Design Products at the Royal College of Art is run by Jurgen Bey and Martino Gamper, both known for their creativity of design in a public context, and for their ability to question and visualize the reality that surrounds us. Finally, project tutor Tomoko Azumi is a furniture and product designer whose work encompasses both European and Japanese design. 

Twenty-one students from the Royal College of Art submitted research proposals for 'Making Fun Serious', nine of which received approval. These proposals examine the ways in which equipment can elevate one's abilities and capabilities as a performer, and how Design can facilitate the communication of new dialogues of sound and performance in everyday life. The research takes a variety of directions; one proposal relooks at familiar objects such as books and typewriters, expanding their identities to include a musical aspect. Another enhances the performance quality of digital music players, while yet another is a suggestion for a sound device for public spaces. 

This project represents the second collaboration between YAMAHA and the Royal College of Art, and follows the success of our first collaborative exhibition in Milan in 2007, entitled "How Design Can Turn a Musical Listener to a Player?" Six students featured in this exhibition, offering a wide range of proposals that included a rhythm-making device to transform any object into a unique-sounding drum, and a set of furniture designed to encourage older musicians to reunite with bands from their past. 

Kunihiro Takei writes "There is a physical beauty in someone playing an instrument, or playing a sport. Could this be because musical instruments and sporting goods offer the perfect opportunity to take something seriously? To an audience, the player's appearance is an invitation; to the player, the response from an audience is an inspiration to greater performance. For this exhibition, we asked students at the Royal College of Art to focus on the essential nature of 'seriousness', and on the factors that can amplify it. Here we invite you to view the performance that people and their tool can create".

The exhibition is displayed in the foyer and on the main staircase of Chappell of Bond Street's flagship Yamaha store at 152-160 Wardour Street, London. Entry is free of charge and the exhibition is open for viewing during normal store opening hours.

Further Information:

Royal College of Art

Yamaha Design

London Design Festival