Hara’s collected research on the role of sensing and the sensory in design
Building upon Kenya Hara’s previous design treatises including Ex-formation and White, Visualize and Awaken deals with the question of how to see the world with new eyes, and presents a continuation of Hara’s pedagogical research as a professor at Musashino Art University. Awareness of the world, Hara argues, emerges only after one has already entered an environment that feels self-evident. Take for example how babies feel their way through the world: they crawl on their stomachs, hit their heads on table legs and put objects into their mouths. In other words, to become aware is to situate oneself within a network of cause and effect, where a sense of stability forms in relation to one’s surroundings: learning that one action leads to another, interpreting signs and anticipating what comes next. Hara’s research quietly unravels the stable relationship between people and their environment, introducing unfamiliar modes of seeing and perception. Kenya Hara (born 1958) graduated from Musashino Art University in Western Tokyo, and has been a member of its design faculty since 2003. Since 2001, Hara has served as the art director of Muji. His previous books on design include Draw, Designing Japan and 100 Whites.
STATUS: Forthcoming | 12/29/2026
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Published by Lars Müller Publishers. By Kenya Hara.
Hara’s collected research on the role of sensing and the sensory in design
Building upon Kenya Hara’s previous design treatises including Ex-formation and White, Visualize and Awaken deals with the question of how to see the world with new eyes, and presents a continuation of Hara’s pedagogical research as a professor at Musashino Art University. Awareness of the world, Hara argues, emerges only after one has already entered an environment that feels self-evident. Take for example how babies feel their way through the world: they crawl on their stomachs, hit their heads on table legs and put objects into their mouths. In other words, to become aware is to situate oneself within a network of cause and effect, where a sense of stability forms in relation to one’s surroundings: learning that one action leads to another, interpreting signs and anticipating what comes next. Hara’s research quietly unravels the stable relationship between people and their environment, introducing unfamiliar modes of seeing and perception.
Kenya Hara (born 1958) graduated from Musashino Art University in Western Tokyo, and has been a member of its design faculty since 2003. Since 2001, Hara has served as the art director of Muji. His previous books on design include Draw, Designing Japan and 100 Whites.
