Cleaning - by Kenya Hara (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the celebrated MUJI designer and bestselling author of 100 Whites and Designing Japan, a compact and beautifully designed guide to the art of cleaning

Cleanliness is a core value of societies around the globe. With beautiful photography and short, poetical observations, acclaimed author and designer Kenya Hara explores and illustrates the concept of cleaning in all of its aspects: sweeping, dusting, blowing, beating, washing, wiping, smoothing, raking, grooming, purifying, scrubbing, scraping, erasing, scooping, removing and clearing.
From the sorting process a child applies to its toys and the meticulous attention a clockmaker pays to their creations to the impressive feat that is deep-cleaning a ship, each process is treated with the same gentle fascination. The portable book format invites readers to take this publication into the world as they look at these everyday processes with fresh eyes.
Kenya Hara (born 1958) is a Japanese graphic designer, author, curator, professor at the Musashino Art University in Tokyo and art director for MUJI. He has been awarded many prizes, including the Japanese Cultural Design Award. Hara is the author of White, 100 Whites, Designing Design and Designing Japan.

Review Quotes

It is certainly the most overlooked activity in architecture and design, but also the most universal.--Edwin Heathcote "Financial Times: How To Spend It"

Some of the scenes featured are epic--the cleaning of a 150m-long ship, for example, or the Ominugui ceremony (the cleaning of the Great Buddha) at Japan's Todaiji Temple. But others are everyday, such as the peeling of stickers off a road sign, or the dusting of the lights in a home.--Eliza Williams "Creative Review"