Search

Google Hardware’s Design Studio Makes Itself at Home at Tokyo DESIGNART 2019

10.25.19 | By
Google Hardware’s Design Studio Makes Itself at Home at Tokyo DESIGNART 2019

Ever since joining in 2014, Google’s VP of Hardware Design Ivy Ross has made great efforts to humanize the hardware of the tech and data giant into personable points of interaction. For Tokyo DESIGNART 2019, Ross and Google Hardware’s Design Studio worked with trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort to coordinate Google’s latest catalog of technology against the backdrop of artisan crafts and contemporary design pieces under the exhibition moniker of COMMA.


Soft hues informed by Google’s current palette of connected home appliances – chalk, sky, snow, sand, mist, coral, and charcoal – inspire earthly colored displays complemented by a series of wall hangings crafted from fragments of antique linens created by Dutch interior architects INAMATT.

The displays also operate as an inspirational aesthetic lookbook, showcasing how Google’s line of devices – including the newly announced Nest Mini, Pixel 4, Pixel Buds, Nest WiFi – could ideally be incorporated into contemporary living spaces with everyday objects.

Wall hangings created by Dutch interior architects INAMATT provide the backdrop to an exhibition intended to “inspire pause”, a conceptual contrast to the daily bombardment of information and interaction typically delivered by technology today.

A secondary atelier installation displays a selection of design inspirations and products from Ivy Ross and the Google Hardware Design Studio team, presenting a visual timeline and small peek revealing the team’s efforts in conceptualization and material exploration.

COMMA is being exhibited until October 27th at 21_21 Design Sight in Gallery 3 in Toyko’s Midtown Garden. 

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.