With an approach to functional design that prioritizes ease of use, aesthetic simplicity, and close attention to the ways that mundane objects and environments record our everyday habits, Tokyo-based product designer Naoto Fukasawa has been a hugely influential force in design for more than two decades. Best-known for his prior work as design director of MUJI—the Japanese “anti-brand” consumer goods company—Fukasawa has designed across a broad range of categories and media. Whether shaping electronics for a global market or collaborating with artisanal firms on fine furniture, Fukasawa advocates for a design philosophy of longevity, accessibility, and subtle humor over novelty, ephemerality, or blatant commercialism.

Presenting fully-realized production designs alongside the studio’s working sketches and models for select projects, Things in Themselves offers a rare opportunity to explore Fukasawa’s design ethos—prizing an essential “fit” between objects, users, and their environments—and creative process. This exhibition accompanies the 2024 Collab Design Excellence Award, and marks the first major solo presentation of Fukasawa’s work at a U.S. museum.