On the problem of embodied sense-making: the semantic structure of an object according to Murata Chiaki

Even in the 1980s, both Western and domestic design theorists noted a "semantic shift" in design, that is, a transition from issues of form-making to issues of meaning-making. Simultaneously, interest in the phenomenological understanding of things at the level of the senses began to grow. However, in domestic design literature, for various reasons, the theme of "meanings-sensations" has largely remained unexplored. Today, East Asian design theorists consider embodied sense-making as inherently aligned with their regional aesthetic tradition, linking it to the identity of East Asian design, whereas in domestic project science there is not even a terminological framework for discussing this topic. Therefore, the aim of this research is to problematize embodied sense-making in design. Relying on the semantic structure of the thing proposed by the director of the Japan Industrial Designers Association (JIDA) Murata Chiaki in 2017, the authors of the article reveal the Japanese understanding of embodied sense-making in design. The methodological basis of the research consists of methods for problem setting, cultural interpretation, commentary, and a comparative method with elements of comparison studies. In the course of the research, the authors reveal the cultural subtext contained in the semantic levels of the thing identified by Murata Chiaki. Thus, according to the authors, the "corporeality" of the thing suggests its perception not just through the five senses but through the entire body of a person. At the same time, the thing is perceived by a person as "void", as an "energetic concentration", and, therefore, as open to merging with the person's "self". In turn, the "sociality" of the thing suggests not only that the thing serves as an indicator of the social status of its owner but also that it connects all who have touched it: in the context of Japanese tradition, this refers to "energetic connection". Essentially, Murata Chiaki develops a "new phenomenology" in the spirit of the 20th-century Japanese philosopher Yuasa Yasuo, who sees the main difference between Western and Eastern perceptions of the world in that in the East, people turn to the "unconscious quasi-body" formed by the meridians of acupuncture medicine, while in the West, they turn to the unconscious located solely in the human brain.