[On Sale April 4 (Sat)] 'Toward the Reconstruction of Design Studies' Edited by Ritsumeikan University College of Design and Art ── Launch of 'RDA Series' to Open New Era Design Studies to Society by Ritsumeikan University and Concent

Concent, Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Atsushi Hasegawa; hereinafter 'Concent'), in collaboration with the College of Design and Art and the Graduate School of Design and Art at Ritsumeikan University, has launched the 'RDA Series' to publish academic achievements and resources. The first issue, 'Toward the Reconstruction of Design Studies,' will be released on Saturday, April 4, 2026 (A5 size, 256 pages, price: 2,970 yen including tax). Through bookmaking and publishing activities, the 'RDA Series' aims to unleash the intellect and sensibility of a new era of design and art, and propagate them to the real world where they are needed. The editorial board consists of Fumi Yaegashi, Vice Dean of the College; Takahito Kamihira, Professor of the College; and Tomoya Yoshida from Concent's Design Leadership Department. Art and AI, Traditional Performing Arts and Technology, Gion Festival and Design Theory ── The Potential of Design and Art Spun from Intersecting Interdisciplinary Expertise The inaugural issue of the RDA Series, 'Toward the Reconstruction of Design Studies,' is a collection of 11 dialogue sessions by 22 faculty members of the 'College of Design and Art,' newly established in April 2026 by Ritsumeikan University, a comprehensive university, with the aim of pursuing dynamic self-transformational learning through co-creation rooted in aesthetic sensibility. "How the invisible architecture of SNS algorithms has ended up designing human behavior" "How indigenous communities can be revitalized in response to the issue of inheriting traditional culture" "What are the possibilities of the human body as shown by physical arts" "How the cultural formation of modern society can be deciphered from the rituals of the Jomon period" In front of a faculty of researchers, designers, and artists from completely different specialized fields such as contemporary art, architecture, service design, traditional culture, and archaeology, Professor Kamihira was in charge of setting up the themes and pairs for the dialogues, which are like 'crossbreeding their respective specialties.' The dialogues discover commonalities with each other and jointly establish new perspectives. The composition and editing were handled by Concent's Yoshida and Natsuko Suzuki. The 'Design Studies' discussed in this book is by no means confined to the classroom. It is a practical academic discipline about how to connect and govern society from the perspective of design. It is a book in which the reader's own framework of thinking is quietly updated by the joy of deciphering the radical questions embedded between the lines and the implications for communities yet to be born, as well as encounters with numerous dialogues that shake the boundaries of academia. 1. Art and AI, Collaboration of Creativity Kazushi Mukaiyama (Digital Art) x Satoshi Hashiguchi (Perceptual Media, Kansei Information) 2. Design and Environment, to Share the World Masato Nakayama (Physical Cyber Space Design) x Takahito Kamihira (Design Culture) 3. Design and History, the Whereabouts of Humans Re-designed Yuichi Inobori (Service Design, Innovation) x Norihisa Yamashita (Design/Art and International Society) 4. Art and Architecture, Spaces for the Senses Yoko Iinuma (Contemporary Art, Physical Art) x Satoshi Kimura (Architectural Theory, Architectural History) 5. Perception and Experience, Acquisition of Multifaceted Perspectives Eriko Kitamoto (Architectural Informatics, xR [Cross Reality]) x Ryoko Matsuba (Art/Crafts, Traditional Culture) 6. Regional Culture and Administrative Design, Drawing Indigenous Happiness