What's DSA

Shigechiyo Suzuki-Creative Director
Chairperson / Japan Design Space Association

The things that spatial design brings cannot be described in one word.
It could be a touching moment, a dynamic inspiration, or even something too subtle to notice.
We may not always know where the feeling comes from,
but spatial design definitely has the power to move our hearts.
To design actual places, believing that they can make people happier in some ways.
-that is our greatest mission.

Tatsuo Kannami-Design consultant
Honorary Chairman / Japan Design Space Association

Japan Design Space Association was established in 1959, and after experiencing Tokyo Olympic in 1964 and Osaka Expo in 1970, we have grown into a major organization. Spatial design has been developed in SHOWA and HEISEI eras, along with Japan’s economic growth, as witnessed in Tokyo Motor Show, which was a forerunner as industrial exhibition in the post war era, or show windows which brightened city streets.
Today, however, environment surrounding design industry has been changing dramatically. While the role design plays has been expanding, its social responsibility has been on a rise. Now we face various social challenges in the world; global warming, dry-up of resources, international conflicts and refugee problem etc. In addition, COVID-19 has raised a valuable question about the future of Spatial design where people gather in the actual space.
We will need to widen our outlook worldwide and be engaged in activities for the benefit of the entire society. Space is infinite and full of imaginable possibility. We believe that value of spatial design will further increase in the future.

Prof. Shinya Hashizume
-Distinguished Professor, Organization for Research Promotion, Osaka Prefecture University
Senior advisor / Japan Design Space Association

What kind of society will we be living in from now on? For one thing, globalization will progress even further. With the global population reaching 10 billion in the mid-century, the movement of real people across borders is expected to become more active. What we need is a society where co-creation among people of different cultural backgrounds is enhanced and diverse values are embraced.

On the other hand, further informatization is also inevitable. Information and communication technologies are developing at an accelerating pace to the extent that it is labeled Industrie 4.0. Furthermore, robotics and automation technologies are also advancing. Innovations in the man-machine interfaces are also remarkable. It is obvious that communication between the real and the virtual is given more weight in our everyday life.

In this context, the role of space design becomes more important. Excellent design acts as an intermediary among people and as a result enriches our lives by bringing more joys and excitements.

Why don't we think outside the box and create Japan originated excellent space design suitable for the new era?

The Japan Design Space Association, consisting of five branches over three regions, is a nationwide organization approved by the Japanese Government for the spatial design sector. The predecessor of DSA was the Japan Display Design Association formed in 1974 through a merger between two display design organizations – one established in Osaka in 1959 and the other in Tokyo in 1963 as voluntary associations for display designs – and was approved as an incorporated association by the government in 1993.
DDA played an important role in unfolding the social potential of display designs through the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, Japan. Supported by the high economic growth and transformation of the environment surrounding Japanese economy and the association, display designs expanded their areas of activity and began taking root as a communication technique essential to communities and people’s livelihood. With its activity overflowing the definition of “display” along with diversification of media and progresses in information and communication technology, the association changed its name to the current DSA to represent ongoing activities marking its transformation into a general incorporated association in February 2012.

Members of the association participate in numerous domestic and oversea expositions, exhibitions, as well as museum, business space, and entertainment space projects, unleashing their expertise. DSA’s activities as an association are focused on three pillars of “Commendation/Contests”, “Lectures/Seminars/Cultivation”, and “Dissemination/Education”. In “Commendation/Contests”, we contribute to identifying talented designers and improving their design activities by organizing awards for recognition and publication of excellent works of spatial/environmental design. In “Lectures/ Seminars/Cultivation”, in addition to sponsoring design meetings, symposiums and seminars, we promote activities to nurture young people, send dispatch instructors to college courses and judges to external design projects. In ”Dissemination/Education”, we cooperate with publication of the Japanese Spatial Design Yearbook, publish books on spatial designs, as well as edit and plan membership public relations magazines and branch-based online newsletters. The association is also actively engaged in establishing intellectual property rights, planning and research of design protection, and interaction with other design organizations (the Council of the Design Association of Japan a.k.a. D-8, Kukan Design Organization, etc), public offices, government-affiliated organizations and related industries.