Press Release
A' Design Award in Fine Arts and Art Installation Design Goes to Kaei Ryusui Art Installation by Noriko Kinouchi
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Noriko Kinouchi for fine arts and art installation design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Kaei Ryusui Art Installation by Noriko Kinouchi has been granted the A' Design Award in the Fine Arts and Art Installation Design category. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the A' Design Award
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
More About Kaei Ryusui Art Installation
Kaei Ryusui is a site-specific art installation created for the main dining room of a luxury cruise ship. The work combines eight large graphic prints with a continuous digital sequence in 4K resolution. Each print measures 1456 by 762 millimeters and is inkjet-printed on handmade washi paper, then mounted in frames suited to the marine environment. Motifs of seasonal flowers, branches and flowing water shift slowly, drawing on the Japanese appreciation of impermanence. Each piece is registered on a blockchain registry to record its provenance.
About Noriko Kinouchi
Noriko Kinouchi is a Tokyo-based digital artist whose work merges tradition and technology to create immersive, site-specific installations. She combines digital media with materials such as handmade washi paper to express new forms of beauty inspired by Japanese sensibilities. As a lecturer at Joshibi University of Art and Design, she also contributes to educating future creators. Kinouchi’s work transforms spaces into meditative environments where light, time, and nature resonate together.
Award Record
This recognition makes Noriko Kinouchi a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Fine Arts and Art Installation Design Award
The A' Fine-Art Design Award is an international fine-art design competition recognizing best fine-art works by leading fine-art artists and creators worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to artists, painters, sculptors and ceramicists from all countries. Entries typically include sculptures, paintings, installations, photographs, drawings and mixed media works. Awarded art designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/fine-art
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/176020
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/176020
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!176020
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/371998
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Kaei Ryusui Art Installation
- Function
- Art Installation
- Category
- Fine Arts and Art Installation Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Arts
- Colors
- Dark Olive Green, Dim Gray, Dark Slate Gray, Saddle Brown and Black
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Noriko Kinouchi
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #176020
Credits
- Image Credits
- #1: Nacasa & Partners,Ka-ei Ryusui tan,2025 #2: Art front gallery, Ka-ei Ryusui tan,2025 #3: Art front gallery, Ka-ei Ryusui tan,2025 #4: Art front gallery, Ka-ei Ryusui tan,2025 #5: Art Front Gallery, Ka-ei Ryusui tan,2025
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Kaei Ryusui-tan is a site-specific installation comprising eight large-scale graphic works and a fluid visual sequence that transforms the environment into a moving painting. Inspired by the Japanese aesthetic of impermanence, the motifs of seasonal flora and flowing water shift continuously. To ensure the integrity of this collection, each work is registered on the Startrail Registry Record (SRR) blockchain. This digital provenance secures the design's originality and protects the intellectual property rights of both the creator and the client within the maritime setting.
- Inspiration
- The inspiration for Kaei Ryusui-tan stems from the Japanese aesthetic of "mono no aware," finding profound beauty in impermanence and seasonal transitions. Traditional motifs of blossoms, branches, and flowing water are reimagined not as static depictions, but as an evolving luminous landscape. By bridging cultural memory with contemporary digital expression, the project establishes a poetic presence on board the luxury liner Asuka III, where the art unfolds as a continuous living environment that resonates with timeless sensibilities.
- Research
- This research explored reinterpreting the Japanese sense of impermanence through contemporary digital media. Objectives focused on translating traditional motifs—blossoms and flowing water—into a moving environment. Methods included iterative graphic studies and material experiments with washi paper. Results demonstrated that expanding traditional imagery into a luminous, evolving landscape evokes a renewed perception of time. Furthermore, the integration of SRR blockchain establishes a framework for managing digital provenance, ensuring authenticity for high-value corporate art collections.
- Challenge
- The primary challenge was integrating a digital work into the ship's architecture without it appearing as a conventional screen display. To solve this, motifs were scaled and paced to feel like a living landscape. Another difficulty was preserving the subtlety of traditional Japanese aesthetics while using contemporary media; this was resolved by softening visual transitions to allow the imagery to merge naturally with the washi texture. Additionally, using SRR blockchain solved the challenge of securing the long-term value and provenance of art within a complex maritime management system.
- Realization and Technology
- The graphics were produced as high-resolution digital compositions using Adobe software. Each piece was inkjet-printed onto custom-sized handmade washi paper, measuring 1456 x 762 mm, and mounted in specialized frames for the maritime environment. The fluid imagery was developed in 4K resolution using After Effects, layering motion and light. To manage these assets, the project integrates the Startrail Registry Record (SRR) blockchain infrastructure, assigning a unique digital identity to each piece for permanent provenance tracking and authenticity verification.
- Operation and Interaction
- The work functions as an immersive environment rather than a static display. Eight seasonal graphics are paired with a digital sequence that continuously shifts in tone and rhythm across the dining space. As observers move through the room, their perception of the space evolves with the flow of light and imagery, mirroring the experience of observing a natural landscape through passing seasons. This gentle transformation encourages a state of contemplation and emotional resonance, allowing the art to breathe within the architectural volume.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project was produced in 2025 in Tokyo and permanently installed within the main dining room of the luxury cruise ship Asuka III.
- Specifications
- Each graphic print measures 1456 x 762 mm, inkjet-printed on handmade washi paper and mounted in frames optimized for durability at sea. The installation consists of eight prints and a central digital sequence rendered in 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 px). As a key technical property, the work is integrated with the Startrail Registry Record (SRR) blockchain to secure its digital identity and provenance.
- Keywords
- digital art, art installation, site-specific, fine art prints, ambient animation, Japanese aesthetics, cruise ship, meditative space, contemporary art, luxury design
