 |
| Kenji Ekuan, industrial designer, and head of GK Design Group |
As a child, he wandered the streets of his native Hiroshima just after the nuclear devastation, and spoke of hearing the voices of
'mangled streetcars, bicycles and other objects', lamenting they could no longer be used. After his father died from radiation poisoning,
Kenji Ekuan became a monk, but changed course to become the most celebrated industrial designer in Japan. He graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1955, and set up his own design business in 1957. Regarding 'futuristic' design, Ekuan stated,
"When we think of the future of design, we might imagine a world where robots are everywhere, but that's not it. The ultimate design is little different from the natural world."
 |
| Perhaps the GK Design Group's most famous design for Yamaha; the VMax |
Ekuan's
GK Design Group went on to work with Yamaha, and the VMax is one of Ekuan's most famous motorcycle designs. Far more famous is his ubiquitous red-capped Kikkoman soy sauce bottle of 1961, which was inspired by watching his mother struggle with transferring a large bottle of soy sauce into a smaller container for the table. The GK group also designed Japan's Bullet Train, corporate logos, and musical equipment. Kenji Ekuan was awarded the
'Golden Compass' award in Italy for his lifetime of brilliant design. Ekuan was born on Sep.11th 1929 in Tokyo, and died yesterday.
 |
| Ubiquitous: no higher accolade for a man's work |
According to Yamaha, GK Design Group was responsible for nearly all of their motorcycle designs until very recently. In 1989, a separate division within GK Design Group was formed specially to deal with vehicle design,
GK Dynamics, which also contracted with Toyota. It wasn't until 2014(!) that Yamaha formed an in-house design team, headed by
Akihiro 'Dezi' Nagaya.
 |
| The GK Dynamics design for the Bullet Train |
I've been familiar with the unorthodox design philosophy of GK Dynamics since 1989, when they published
'Man-Machine-Soul-Energy: the Spirit of Yamaha Motorcycle Design'...which I've always referred to as the 'Yamaha Sex Tract', as it is the first published motorcycle design document which explores the erotic and sometimes explicitly sexual nature of our relationship of
"the second most intimate machine" (my quote - the first most intimate is, of course, the vibrator).
I recommend reading the book if you're a student of design, or would like to explore how differently the Japanese designers in Kenji Ekuan's firm thought about and discussed their work - it's a fascinating glimpse into a wide-open mind and industrial design philosophy, and I doubt any such discussion was ever held at Harley-Davidson or BMW! And I reckon few industrial designers working for major corporations have publicly acknowledged the debt of modern design to DADAist artist
Marcel Duchamp. It's remarkable stuff.
 |
| Atsushi Ishiyama, author of the remarkable 'Man-Machine-Soul-Energy: Spirit of Yamaha Motorcycle Design' |
Here's a sample from the book, written by current
GK Dynamics President Atsushi Ishiyama:
"When I first came into contact with the motorcycle as an object to be designed, my first impression was that it is extremely sexy, even considered in terms of pure shape, the single cylinder engine is truly phallic...the part where the engine connects to the frame is thick, giving it the very shape of a sex symbol. The muffler also has the unique glow of metal, making it look just like internal organs. The tank has a richly feminine curve, and the metal frame bites tightly into the engine like a whip. I am certain the the designers did not have this aspect in mind, but it is quite a shock to anybody who suddenly comes into contact with it for the first time. The mechanical parts of the engine, the suspension...as well as all other structural parts give the impression of a sexual analogy. The first time I saw one, I felt like I had come into contact with a very abnormal world.
 |
| Marcel Duchamps' 'Nude Descending a Staircase No.2' |
I feel that such works as 'Nude Descending a Staircase' and 'The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors' by the father of modern art Marcel Duchamp were the first artistic expressions of eroticism through mechanism....Duchamp's fresh approach is seen in his use of mechanism as his means of expression. The motorcycle is also created upon the basis of a thoroughgoing desire to create a loveable artifical life through a mechanical assembly of the mechanism of human sensitivities."
 |
| Marcel Duchamps' 'The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even' |
No matter your taste regarding the VMax or other Yamaha products, designers Ekuan and Ishiyama have created design for the ages, and have long been an inspiration of mine.
Subscribe to TheVintagent.com by email!