Dieter Rams Exhibition Opens November 17 at Tama Art University’s New Gallery, an Official Show Planned by His Foundation

An exhibition on industrial designer Dieter Rams (1932–) will be held from Tuesday, November 17 to Wednesday, December 16, 2026, at “Sala Blu,” a new gallery on Tama Art University’s Kaminoge Campus (Setagaya City, Tokyo). Through products, sketches, drawings and prototypes, it traces his philosophy of “Less, but Better.” It is an official exhibition planned and supervised by the Dieter and Ingeborg Rams Foundation and, according to the organizer, the first of its kind in Japan. Naoto Fukasawa, the university’s vice president, serves as general supervisor.

Why now? Rams for the first exhibition at a new hub marking the university’s 90th anniversary

The venue, Sala Blu, is the gallery of “KCC (Kaminoge Cultural Crossing),” a cultural hub that Tama Art University opened in April 2026 as part of its 90th anniversary projects, and this exhibition is its inaugural show. The new buildings (headquarters building and auditorium), whose completion was announced in March, were designed and supervised by Naito Architect & Associates and built by Maeda Corporation. Sala Blu is on the 1st floor of the headquarters building, facing Kanjo Hachigo-sen (Ring Road No. 8), with a ceiling height of about 6 m, and its space can be divided with movable panels. Natural light enters the auditorium “Oculus Hall,” the venue for talks, through a skylight at the top of its dome. Kaminoge is also where the university was founded, as the Tama Imperial Art School, in 1935.

Exhibitions introducing Rams’s work have been launched from Japan before. On October 1, 2026, the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, introducing the career of its new director, Keiko Ueki, noted that the exhibition “Pure Form: The Age of Dieter Rams,” conceived and launched from Osaka, toured Tokyo, Seoul and three cities in Europe and the United States (our article on the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka). This time, it is described as an official foundation exhibition realized through dialogue between Rams and Naoto Fukasawa.

What can visitors see? Products and the traces of thinking behind them

The key to the exhibition is the phrase “Less, but Better,” which also appears in its title. Alongside products, it gathers materials such as sketches, drawings and prototypes that show the thought process leading up to production.

The announcement includes photographs of products designed by Rams and others: the radio and record player combination “SK 4” (1956, designed by Rams of Braun GmbH and Hans Gugelot of HfG Ulm), the slide projector “D 10” (1962) and the world receiver “T 1000” (1963/64), which receives FM, long wave, medium wave and eight shortwave bands. From 1978, it shows the digital control unit “regie 550 d,” which handles shortwave, medium wave, long wave and FM, and “travel 1000,” a model for a compact world receiver.

Related talks: Naoto Fukasawa, Fumie Shibata and Gen Suzuki

Talks will be held in the Oculus Hall auditorium during the exhibition. On Sunday, November 29, from 14:00 to 15:30, Naoto Fukasawa (product designer and vice president of Tama Art University) will speak on “What I learned from Dieter Rams.” On Saturday, December 5, from 14:00 to 15:30, Fumie Shibata (product designer and professor in the university’s Department of Integrated Design) and Gen Suzuki (product designer and part-time lecturer at the university) will present “Ten Perspectives on Good Design.”

Both are free but require advance reservations. The reservation method and start date will be announced on the exhibition’s special website and official social media once decided.

In a comment in the announcement, Fukasawa says that when he visited Rams’s home and spoke with him, he sensed that Rams strongly wished to share the insights he had gained along his own path in design with many young people. That goes beyond Rams personally, he says, and concerns the fundamentals of what to value in design and how to approach it, which he hopes visitors will experience through the exhibition.

Tickets, prices and access

Admission is ¥1,000 for general visitors. Students from elementary school through university are admitted free, and Setagaya residents pay ¥500 with a resident discount. Those using the student or resident discount should show proof at reception. Tickets are sold through Peatix, and same-day tickets are available at the venue.

Opening hours are 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30). According to the September 8 announcement, the opening day, November 17, runs only from 10:00 to 15:00 (last entry 14:30). The gallery is closed on Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22.

It is a 3-minute walk from Kaminoge Station on the Tokyu Oimachi Line and a 12-minute walk from Futako-Tamagawa Station on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line, and there is no parking. Overlapping with the exhibition, from Saturday, November 14 to Monday, December 14, “Takenobu Igarashi: Process and Development” (free admission) will also be held at the Art Theque 101–105 Gallery on the university’s Hachioji Campus.

Editor’s perspective

An art university’s new gallery has chosen an official Rams exhibition for its inaugural show. Admission is free for students from elementary school through university, and the talks feature the university’s vice president and faculty. Design exhibitions are also introduced in our guide to design, craft and architecture exhibitions for autumn–winter 2026.

Overview

Name: Dieter Rams A Look Back and Ahead / Less, but Better: What Dieter Rams Taught Us, “Less, but Better”
Dates: Tuesday, November 17 – Wednesday, December 16, 2026
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30); November 17 only, 10:00–15:00 (last entry 14:30)
Closed: Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22
Venue: “Sala Blu (Gallery),” 1F, Headquarters Building, Tama Art University Kaminoge Campus
Address: 3-15-34 Kaminoge, Setagaya City, Tokyo
Admission: General ¥1,000; students (elementary, junior high, high school and university) free; Setagaya resident discount ¥500 (show proof at reception for student and resident discounts)
Organizer: Tama Art University
General supervision: Naoto Fukasawa
Planning and supervision: Dieter and Ingeborg Rams Foundation
Curation: Klaus Klemp in collaboration with Dieter Rams
Special cooperation: Japan Institute of Design Promotion
Supporters: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Goethe-Institut Tokyo
Cooperation: Chunichi Studio Co., Ltd., NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN
Official website: https://kcc.tamabi.ac.jp
*Information as of October 21, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: “SK 4” (design: Dieter Rams, Braun GmbH / Hans Gugelot, HfG Ulm 1956; Photo: Andreas Kugel © rams foundation) (from Tama Art University’s press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on announcements by Tama Art University (September 8, October 8, 2026, and others), information on the official website, and an announcement by the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka (October 1, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team