James Spitzenberger

Shibuya Crossing

Class of: 2025

Major: Product Design BFA

Medium: Adobe Illustrator, Inkjet, Pen, Bristol Paper

Faculty: Diana Shpungin

Prompt: Showcase a landscape in the present and future, using half Adobe Illustrator and half physical drawing. Black and white only, mounted on an art board.

Japan is experiencing a record low in birthrate while simultaneously harboring a rapidly aging population. With the current trajectory, it is expected that Japan will have an unprecedentedly low population count in the coming years.

For this project I chose my setting to be Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo. This is the busiest crosswalk in the world, a perfect petri dish to examine a countries residents.

Every figure is a shadow, eluding to the fact that the count of citizens is already in decline. In each contrasting window is the complete absence of the shadow, signifying the projected decline in numbers.