The gate of a traditional Japanese shrine with urban buildings in the background
SVA Made in Yame is a two-week intensive product design program that takes you deep into the cultural heart of Japan. Study with the finest craftspeople, visit ancient temples and shrines and relish the food, architecture and landscape of this extraordinary country.
The SVA Made in Yame curriculum spends as much time as possible getting out of the design studio. Field trips and visits to workshops and factories allow participants to become familiar with a craft technique, its traditional applications and the historical and cultural context in which the technique arose. Participants will be asked to maintain a sketchbook throughout the program and to sketch concepts for every process they see.
The following itinerary is subject to unexpected change.
Introduction to Japan in Fukuoka City
2 Days
Fukuoka City is the fifth largest and fastest growing city in Japan. Some might say it is the Seattle or Brooklyn of Japan. It provides an immersive experience of modern-day Japan's amazing architecture, technology, infrastructure, food and shopping; it is home to fine museums that will introduce us to the history of Japan and its cultural traditions; and it exemplifies a coexistence of the traditional and contemporary.
Day 1— Fukuoka City (Sunday 6/16)
(some flights may arrive too late to partake in these events)
14:00 Free time for sight-seeing & shopping
18:00 Dinner
Day 2— Fukuoka City (Monday 6/17)
09:00 Meet in hotel lobby
10:00 Group sight-seeing & shopping
19:00 Dinner
A window display of fake Japanese dishes made of plastics
Four participants in the program eating ice scream in front of a building
People walking on a narrow Japanese alley on a sunny day
Japanese breakfast with rice and miso soup
Design Research and Sketching in Yame City
7 Days
In Yame, we will visit a broad range of traditional crafts, workshops and factories. Designers will maintain sketchbooks that explore new product concepts for each process that they see. And we will visit local sites and shops that inspire and inform us about Japanese culture, past and present.
Day 3— Fukuoka City to Yame (Tuesday 6/18)
08:30 Meet in hotel lobby
09:30 Visit Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine
10:30 Visit Kyushu National Museum
11:30 Drive to Yame (lunch on the bus)
14:00 Welcome ceremony at Yame Mayor’s Office
15:00 Welcome prayer at Yame Fukushima Hachimangu Shrine
16:00 Tour: Kitaya Sake brewery
18:00 Welcome Dinner with Yame Craftsmen
Day 4— Yame (Wednesday 6/19)
09:00 Meet in hotel lobby
09:15 Tour: Yame Craft Museum
12:30 Lunch
13:30 Tour: Lacquer workshop
15:30 Tour: Fine wood working
17:00 Free time for bicycle, inspiration and sketching
Day 5— Yame (Thursday 6/20)
10:00 Meet in hotel lobby
10:30 Tour: Washi papermaking
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Tour: Paper lantern workshop
15:30 Tour: Wood stewardship & milling
17:00 Free time for bicycle, inspiration and sketching
Day 6— Yame (Friday 6/21)
09:00 Free morning w/ optional walking tour of Yame
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Tour: Ceramic production kiln
17:00 Free time for bicycle, inspiration and sketching
Day 7— Yame (Saturday 6/22)
09:00 Meet in hotel lobby
09:30 Tour: Bow & Arrow workshop
11:00 Lunch on the bus
12:00 Tour: Indigo Dyeing workshop
14:00 Tour: Fine woodcraft workshop
16:00 Free time for bicycle, inspiration and sketching
Day 8— Yame (Sunday 6/23)
09:00 Meet in hotel lobby
09:30 Tour: Stone workshop
11:30 Lunch
13:00 Tour: Kasuri weaving workshop
15:00 Tour: Traditional Tea Ceremony
16.30 Tour: Bamboo weaving workshop
18:00 Free time for bicycle, inspiration and sketching
Day 9— Yame (Monday 6/24)
Free day to explore Yame by bicycle, look for inspiration, sketch, etc.
Designers touch and examine the ikat fabrics
A craft person using hands to show his technique to a designer
A white man spins a the tool that's used to paste a sheet of paper on a lantern
In the washi paper studio, a crafts person shows a man how to use his tools
A craft person demonstrates his lacquer paint technique to a group of designers
Inspirational Trip
1 Day
After 7 days of intensive research in Yame, designers will take a day trip into the surrounding fields and mountains for some rest and inspiration. This will be an opportunity to clear the senses, to reflect on all that was seen in Yame and to sketch new ideas.
Day 10— Yame (Tuesday 6/25)
09:00 Meet in hotel lobby
10:00 Travel to Hoshino Village for a day of inspiration
17:00 Free time for bicycle, inspiration and sketching
A rural Japanese landscape showing a green tea farm on a mountainside
The side of an idyllic traditional Japanese wood building and a line of clay pots in front of it
A close up of a woman in kimono holding a bowl of green tea
A group photo of a priest, craftspeople and designers at a traditional Japanese shrine
The building of a traditional Japanese shrine made of wood and clay tile roof
Design Refinement in Yame
4 Days
The program concludes back in Yame where designers will move through a refined sketching phase and choose one product for development. They will work closely with the instructors and crafts people to create mock-ups and the documentation necessary for a professional presentation.
Day 11— Yame (Wednesday 6/26)
All day sketching and prototyping at Craft Museum
Can be used to make individual trips back to craft shops
Day 12— Yame (Thursday 6/27)
All day sketching and prototyping at Craft Museum
Can be used to make individual trips back to craft shops
Day 13— Yame (Friday 6/28)
Final presentation of designs to team of designers, instructors, craftsmen and other stakeholders
Celebratory dinner
Day 14— Yame (Saturday 6/29)
Travel home
MoMA
Presentation of design work to MoMA is a privilege, not an obligation, of the program. Designers who choose to show to MoMA will be responsible for producing their own three-dimensional models. Production of a prototype by a craft person is not included in the cost of tuition. Presentation to MoMA can be done by CAD rendering. The date of presentation to MoMA will be determined upon program completion.
Designers sketching at their desks
A designer using his iPad to sketch an idea
A group of Japanese men huddled around a designer to see her work
A man and a woman standing in front of a room full of an audience
