Fukasawa : It started when I met Mr. Kumagai, a Hitachi designer, because we share a love of design. Conversation becomes alive when we talk with another person who understands design. The work came as an extension of this relationship. It's like playing catch, responding to a work request is like throwing back the ball.

I have received various types of commissions. Every time, I hope my clients would be more pleased than they expected. I feel that I've been able to come up with a string of good designs. (Laughs)

Recently, I've become interested in working on something of a common use. I think that Japanese well-known electrical manufacturers such as Hitachi generally have products with strong images. Still, we live in an age where electrical appliances in material form are disappearing from society. The image of the electrical appliance manufacturer is changing gradually to that of a company that creates things that are used by everybody, such as social infrastructure and public systems.

As Hitachi's evolution moves forward to keep up with changes in society, my design work is shifting to a broader platform. For this, I started to want to work with a company that has a technology platform comparable to Hitachi's. I have been working with the company for the past five or six years on projects to create designs that can serve as platforms.

My design creed is to work with companies that have not won social recognition yet, things that can emerge from powerful designs. At the same time, I'd like to work with top brands that are the drivers of their industries. This means working with a company that already has a solid platform and the promise of "a dramatically better life if its resources are used". I believe in working with businesses that are not only famous, but that also have substantial strength. As part of this effort, I am working in close collaboration with Hitachi.

Fukasawa : Air pollution is a serious problem in China, and there are demands for cleaner air. There are haze problems in Southeast Asia and many people are suffering air pollution in every Asian country. Because of the large scale of the target market and the strong sense of mission, I found it especially exciting. More than just designing an air purifier as a mere household appliance, it was like designing air itself.

Air and water are fundamental to everyday life. I believe that maintaining clean air and water must form part of the basic infrastructure, or should I say, platform. I felt the passion, reflecting the serious commitment to the use of Japanese technology, and found it exciting.

Fukasawa : I was first told where the target is and where the demand is. I get my inspiration from this demand, from this requirement, and come up with ideas. Of course, I was given a substantial amount of detail. At that point, my head was full of all the possible inspirations.

I looked at what designs and lifestyles we must keep in mind when targeting growing markets. This gave me a greater incentive than when designing for the Japanese market. The desire to deliver to these markets made me overenthusiastic, I suppose. (Laughs)

Fukasawa : It was to make clearly visible the dirty air passing through the filter. Rather than a mere "form" that does not show what it does, the image was of "air being inhaled with power". Since I had to make it look stylish on top of that, I felt it presented quite a difficult challenge technically.

That was what I felt intuitively. This intuition comes not only from me as a designer but also from one user of the product. We can't communicate well unless it can be expressed in a straightforward way, or it will not become an attractive product that most people can accept.

Fukasawa : It was in that part of the air purifier we call the louvers. The louvers have a powerfully iconic presence, and the entire front of this model looks like a filter.

To show that the air is taken in through this part, I wanted the entire front surface to have the texture of a filter, with perfect balance. It is actually a form that requires an extremely difficult mould shape in terms of plastic moulding technology, part of exterior finish technology. It is like creating a sieve with an intricate weave. It means creating a plastic basket that looks handmade. So I knew from the start that this would be difficult.

But it has to be accomplished anyway. If there are breaks or interruptions somewhere, it no longer assimilates into the environment and functions as filter.

This air purifier has been designed so that the interior is invisible. Normally, the inside is visible through the slats. This means that people can see clearly the difference in size between the body and the filter inside. To hide this discrepancy, we repeatedly revised the shape of the mould I mentioned earlier. Hitachi has a very strong commitment to mobilizing its production technologies to produce the required design. Unless you work to a point that surpasses most expectations, I think there can be no product improvement.