Interviews with Shigeru Kubota

Our goal was to grow Mitsubishi Electric's fan base, maximize touchpoints with the public, and sustain that engagement over time. To achieve this, we developed everything from the initial planning and concept to naming, logo design, and immersive video experiences. We decided to host four major exhibition events a year, aiming to create a space that offers fresh excitement with every visit. As a result, we successfully attracted one million visitors in just two years.

Rather than simply displaying Mitsubishi Electric products, we intentionally avoided conventional product showcases. Instead, we invited artists to reinterpret the company's diverse technologies through their unique lenses. By fusing technology with art, we curated exhibitions that resonated deeply with the intellectual curiosity of the people visiting Ginza.

Receiving such a prestigious award gives me the confidence to continue embracing new challenges with even greater passion in the future.

We spent about six months structuring the foundational concepts, including the overall philosophy, facility operation plans, target audience selection, and event programming. Following that, while moving forward with the interior design, we collaborated with a diverse group of creators to develop the naming, logo design, event details, cafe procurement, menu curation, and even original merchandise and uniform designs. The entire project took about a year and a half to complete.

On the first floor, we integrated a collaboration cafe with Mitsubishi Electric, while the second floor was designed as an event space capable of utilizing immersive video, and the third floor as a flexible space for various exhibitions. An elevator pierces through all three floors, allowing visitors to move freely between them. By applying a cohesive design language throughout the entire building, we ensured that visitors instantly recognize the space as METoA.

This is a dedicated event space for Mitsubishi Electric—a place designed to share inspiring insights and foster meaningful communication with people.

Mitsubishi Electric operates across a vast array of business sectors, all powered by technologies that truly represent Japan’s cutting-edge capabilities. I felt that rather than taking these technologies for granted, helping people genuinely understand them would amplify their appreciation for the company's excellence and reliability. In particular, fields like the space sector—such as satellite manufacturing—and robotic arm development involve complex technologies that are naturally difficult for the general public to grasp. That is why I believed it was crucial to communicate their value through a completely fresh perspective.

I have been deeply inspired by the architectural philosophies of Peter Zumthor, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Fumihiko Maki.

Since METoA is located in Ginza—Japan’s premier commercial district—our primary target shifts depending on the event, drawing homemakers on weekdays and families on weekends. For instance, when hosting a space-themed exhibition, our main focus shifts to children.

If we had taken the conventional route, this place might have easily become just another typical showroom—a space to display manufacturer products and explain their features. What sets METoA completely apart, however, is that we challenged ourselves with a new approach by fusing Mitsubishi Electric's technologies with art. We even collaborated with the cafe to develop specialized menus that tied into each exhibition, building a cohesive brand image throughout the entire facility.

METoA is an acronym for 'Mitsubishi Electric Touch of Advancement,' embodying the idea of experiencing and touching Mitsubishi Electric’s technologies firsthand within this space. The logo design features an overlapping of 'ME'—which carries a double meaning of both 'Me' (the individual) and 'Mitsubishi Electric'—and 'ToA.' This visually conveys the message of 'me' encountering Mitsubishi Electric here. This core narrative of encountering, overlapping, and connecting is also directly reflected in our exhibitions, where technology and art come together.

While I never sat down to count them all, the complete set of planning documents easily came out to around 200 pages. Beyond that, we also crafted architectural models and detailed mock-ups to thoroughly test and refine our ideas.

Inside METoA, the pattern on the acrylic walls enclosing the elevator is highly unique. We arranged honeycomb-structured acrylic panels in two layers, rotating one layer by 90 degrees. When overlapped, a beautiful, flower-like pattern emerges here and there. This grid geometry carries a deeper message: when technology overlaps with technology, happiness is born.

For this project, I collaborated with a diverse group of professionals, including planners, graphic designers, video production teams, fashion designers, cafe operators, and numerous artists.

For this project, we took on the entire scope of design—from the initial business concept of the showroom to the interior design, naming, graphics, and event programming. It required a unique capability that goes far beyond the traditional boundaries of design: the ability to translate a broad creative vision into precise, technical execution.

For our research and analysis, we conducted a study on the demographics and behaviors of people visiting Ginza in order to narrow down our target audience.

At the time, Mitsubishi Electric was broadly divided into eleven different business sectors, and our challenge was to communicate the value of all of them to the public. To overcome the constraints of our limited space, we decided to host four major exhibitions each year. By doing so, we could gradually showcase every single business sector over time—not through conventional displays, but by highlighting Mitsubishi Electric’s technologies through unique collaborations with artists.

This project was completed ten years ago, and after a successful decade of operation, the facility has recently closed its doors. Despite it being a past project, we were personally invited by the A' Design Award team, which inspired us to enter. For us, this was the project where we were most deeply involved in the client’s business strategy, and where our design vision was most fully realized. Looking back, its ten-year track record was truly remarkable, and something we take immense pride in. Even though the closing had just been finalized, we decided that bringing this achievement back into the spotlight was profoundly important.

Designing an entire business ecosystem brought immense challenges. I was constantly filled with anxiety, wondering, 'Will people actually visit? Will they truly enjoy it?' Through that struggle, I learned the importance of believing in myself. In the end, the results were more wonderful than I could have imagined, teaching me the ultimate value of never stopping the thinking process.