ORGATEC TOKYO 2023 - Sumisho Interior International Exhibition Booth

Thinking from the "B-side” Shaw Contract (carpets) and Andreu World (furniture) offer beautiful designs along with great sustainability philosophies. The purpose of this exhibit design was to impart upon visitors the manufacturers’ dedication to the environment that lies behind their designs. The conceptual starting point: the carpet "backside" The concept for the exhibit was inspired by the impressive carpet "backside" sustainable initiative story whereby carpets are picked up for 100% recycling following the dialing of a phone number printed on the carpet’s underside. We were so impressed by this story that we focused on the "B-side" idea and discovered an expression that captures the essence of a carpet being rolled up. "Scene” creation, rather than information dissemination The four edges of the carpet are turned up at random heights, with the normally unseen backside (underside), first catching the eye. The story behind the carpet, such as its production process and lifecycle, is graphically and impressively described with objects. We attempted to reverse the usual experience of touching the actual objects (the “A-side”). Our goal was to create an exhibit design that would be etched onto the memory of the visitor as a "scene," rather than as one-way textual information. Transcending the "frame layout” concept: booth design with a 60% building coverage ratio Large-scale exhibitions are obsessively bounded by booth boundaries, and although exhibits differ in content, they become monotonous, repetitive, and tedious. The exhibit was designed to be open and easily accessible from anywhere, but also different, like a plaza in the middle of a dense exhibition hall, where it is hard to discern where the exhibit boundaries end. Iconic scene realization The floor, which is raised up to 1,800mm, is an iconic, unusual sight for visitors. After repeated prototyping, an ultra-thin steel plate structure with 18mm total thickness was used to create the display spectacle, which creates the impression of a thin carpet that has been rolled up. Furthermore, plans called for assembling the display on site. This reduced transportation costs and construction time, and made it easy to adapt the structure to other exhibitions.