Shigeru Uchida Japanese, 1943-2016

From architectural designs to functional urban plans, Shigeru Uchida (1943—2016) is one of Japan’s top interior designers of the 20th century. In 1970, he founded Uchida Designs Inc., where he made commissioned work for the Japanese government and elite corporations. From 2008 until 2011, Uchida served as director of the Kuwasawa Design Institute. His designs are in collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kobe Fashion Museum, and many more.

Biography:

1943       Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

1966       Graduated from Kuwasawa Design School 

1970       Established Uchida Design Inc. 

1974 - 1978       Lecturer at Tokyo Zokei University

1986       Public Lecture at Washington State University

1986       Lecture at Columbia University and Parsons School of Design

1992       Special lecture at Domus Academy, Milan, Italy
1992       Special Lecture at IDEAS'93, International Design Student Conference, Melbourne, Australia

1995       Special lecture at Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

1997 - 2016       Guest Professor, Kumamoto Design College

1998       Special lecture co-sponsored by IIDA, The Art Institute of Chicago
1998       Public Lecture at the Design Symposium organized by Alvar Aalto Museum, Finland
1998       Special lecture organized by APSDA'98, Malaysia

1999 - 2002       Visiting Professor at Sapporo University
1999       Special lecture at HDK University, Sweden
1999       Public lecture at the International Symposium organized by the University of the Basque Country, Spain

2000       Special Lecture at Seoul National University of the Arts

2001 - 2009        Visiting Professor, Tokyo Zokei University
2001       Special Lecture at Bauhaus University

2002       Special Lecture at Hong Kong Designers' Association
2002       Lecture at INVOLUCRI Symposium, Bologna, Italy

2003 - 2016       Visiting Professor, Kuwasawa Design School
2003       Special Lecture at CONTRACT+DESIGN asia 2003, Shanghai, China

2005 - 2008       Part-time lecturer at Nagoya Institute of Technology

2006       Guest Speaker at Design INDABA, Cape Town, South Africa

2008 - 2011        Director of Kuwasawa Design School

2009       Lecture at Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute

2010 - 2015       Visiting Professor, New Business School [STRAMD] (-2015)

Art Fair:

2022　   Design Miami, Miami, Florida

Public Collections:

Kumamoto Traditional Crafts Museum, Kumamoto, Japan
Okazaki City Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan
Kobe Fashion Museum, Kobe, Japan
The Museum of Modern Art Saitama, Saitama, Japan
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada
National Museum of Science and Technology, Ontario, Canada
The Conran Foundation, United kingdom
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
M+ Museum, Hong Kong

Awards:

1987       Mainichi Design Award

1992       The 1st Kuwasawa Award

1998       Japan Culture Design Conference Member Award

2000       Minister of Education Award for Art Encouragement

2007       Medals of Honor with Purple Ribbon

2011       Award for Promotion of Tea Ceremony Culture

2013       The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon