A–Z Homage to Takenobu Igarashi
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Sapporo PARCO, we will hold an exhibition "A-Z Homage to Takenobu Igarashi" by Takenobu Igarashi, who has been active as a sculptor and designer and passed away in February 2025.
◎Exhibition Period: October 4 (Sat) to November 10 (Mon)
◎Venue: Sapporo PARCO (1st floor front window, SPACE 7 on the 7th floor, STEPS207 on the 2nd to 7th floors) / Daimaru Sapporo Store (1st floor atrium)
◎Entrance fee: 7th floor SPACE 7 500 yen ※ Preschool children free
※Details of the exhibition will be updated as needed.
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The encounter between Mr. Igarashi and PARCO was a project of Shibuya PARCO PART3, which opened in 1981. Mr. Igarashi, who participated as one of the leading designers, worked on many designs such as logos, signboards, shoppers, and in-house graphics. The simple and powerful PARCO logo is loved by the company as the Igarashi Logo, and is still used as an exterior wall sign in Kichijoji and Nagoya. The neon signs removed from the outer walls of Shibuya PARCO, which were demolished for rebuilding, are now carefully shown in permanent exhibition stores in Shibuya and Shinsaibashi. The Igarashi logo is a symbol of PARCO’s culture that has been handed down for generations.
Mr. Igarashi has worked on logos such as Suntory, Meiji Dairy, Calpis, etc., and has attracted worldwide attention for his three-dimensional alphabet work. The poster calendar [PARCO ver. = Produced in 1982, MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) ver. = Produced in 1984 to 1991], which expresses numbers in a unique way, has made international reputation a reality.
This exhibition focuses on Mr. Igarashi's activities as a designer before turning into a sculptor in 1994. We unravel the logo design for PARCO PART3 and introduce variants of the typeface. The alphabet sculptures (24 existing pieces) presented at Shibuya PARCO Street Gallery, the poster calendar of the PARCO Version (1982), and sculptures and graphic design works based on the alphabets from A to Z, will be exhibited throughout the Sapporo PARCO building.
【PROFILE】
Takenobu Igarashi
Igarashi Takenobu
1944 - 2025
Born in Takigawa City, Hokkaido. Designer and sculptor.
After graduating from the Department of Design at Tama Art University, he moved to the United States. Graduate School from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His representative works include the calendar of the Museum of Modern Art, the logos of PARCO PART3, Calpis, Meiji Dairy, and Suntory, as well as product designs that make full use of local industry technologies from all over Japan. In the 1980s, he worked on alphabet sculptures using various materials.
After working as a graphic product designer, he moved to Los Angeles from 1994 to concentrate on sculpture production. He has produced many public art works using various materials such as stone, wood, metal, terracotta, and stained glass. Returned to Japan in 2004. Established NPO Art Challenge Taro Yoshizo and held a design meeting. He served as president of Tama Art University.
He has a deep connection with Hokkaido, and worked on the logo of "JR Tower" at Sapporo Station, "Large Star Clock", a station clock at concourse, and a terracotta work "Yamakawa Fuseko" at the observation room T38. He received the Hokkaido Culture Award. The "Ishinobu Igarashi Archive" was established within Kanazawa Institute of Technology, and the "Ishinobu Igarashi Museum of Art Kaze Nobi" in Shin-Totsukawa-cho, Hokkaido has released his sculptures and ateliers. He died at a hospital in Sapporo on February 12, 2025 due to progressive nuclear paralysis. He was 80 years old.
Takenobu Igarashi
Takenobu Igarashi Museum of Art
https://takenobuigarashi.jp/kazenobi/
Takenobu Igarashi Archive
"Representative Works"
Summer Jazz Poster (1976-1991)
Shibuya PARCO Part 3 Logo (1981)
Shibuya PARCO Part 3 Shopper (1981)
"Sapporo Station Star Clock" (2003)photo by Koji Sakai