Category — Industrial Design

I’m writing this post from my phone as i just received this message and am away from my computer all day. Takeshi-san is a good friend of mine. I’ll update this post as I get more information.

Brooklyn-based designer Takeshi Miyakawa was arrested on Saturday, May19, 2012 at 2am for “planting false bombs” – he was installing a new series light sculptures inspired by the I LOVE NY plastic shopping bags around the city in trees and on lamp posts as part of NY Design Week 2012.

A passerby called in a bomb threat after noticing the sculpture installation. The NYPD arrested Miyakawa while a bomb squad verified that the sculptures were non-threatening. The designer and four of his colleagues co-operated with the police, repeatedly explaining that the hanging bags were an art-installation, and not explosives.

At an arraignment on Sunday, May 20, 2012 the prosecution recommended that the judge fix bail, while his lawyer, Deborah J Blum, characterized Miyakawa’s arrest as a gross misunderstanding as evidenced by his many accomplishments in the field of design.

The Honorable Martin Murphy decided to hold Miyakawa for a mental evaluation, extending his detainment for an additional 30 days.

The 50-year-old designer relocated Tokyo to New York City 23 years ago, working for the renowned New York architect Rafael Vinoly. Miyakawa established his solo design practice, Takeshi Miyakawa Design, in 2001.

[update 10:00pm Sunday, May 20th]
Via Gothamist:

according to the person who made the complaint on Friday, the issue wasn’t that Miyakawa’s art appeared to be a bomb, but how they were going to get it off the tree. “I called 311 asking how to get that thing off my tree, if it was my responsibility or the city’s…the 311 woman put me through to 911 then the cops came. I left for work,” they wrote via email.

Miyakawa is currently still in custody. A facebook group has been set up where you can find, among other things, people and addresses to write to, requesting Miyakawa be set free.

[update 11:30pm Sunday, May 20th]
Takeshi is currently being held at Rikers Island without bail.

How adorable is this little dude? ChibiDashi is a miniature wooden jewelry drawer with a tiny space for small jewelry and a plenty of space for personality. I love how you pull him out from his behind.

Designed by conocoto, ChibiDashi is a blend of the Japanese words chibi (tiny) and hikidashi (drawer).

a miniature house-shaped flower vase for your small saplings

“hanabunko” – because every bookshelf needs vegetation

“sasso” begins as a candle but is intended to be used as a planter once the candle burns down. It even comes with moss.

I’m slightly in love with these porcelain planters by 224porcelain, a Saga prefecture-based porcelain brand. I think my favorite is the planter disguised as a book. It even comes with its own book cover!

If you’ll recall, the porcelain brand was also behind the production of these pepper shakers.

As a child, did you ever wrap springs or wire clamps around your finger, pretending they were jewelry? If so, listen up! Kouichi Okamato of Kyouei Design just announced his latest product – wire spring jewelry (1,950 – 3,550 yen) made from components of the industrial manufacturing process.

The collection – an homage to all things mechanical – include wire clamp rings and spring earrings. I love the utilitarian look and feel of these and I admire Okamoto for finding beauty in even the most industrial of things. Admittedly I would have liked to see how they look against the skin of a model.

You can check out all our other posts we’ve done on jewelry right here.

source: press release

images courtesy gallery deux poissons | click to enlarge

a poetic visualization of the time shared between two people

The Tokyo-based gallery deux poissons, 1 of only 3 galleries in all of Japan who specialize in jewelry, recently announced that they had enlisted Torafu Architects to design their latest piece. The young architecture duo, who have no experience designing jewelry, managed to leverage their immense knowledge of material to design a ring that poetically captures the essence of the bond that is formed between two people who decide to spend the rest of their lives together.

But don’t call it a timepiece. “Gold wedding ring” is crafted from 18k-gold which is then coated with a thin layer of silver. As time passes the silver wears away to reveal the gold. It’s a poetic piece that visualizes the time shared between two people.

Depending on which ring you choose – round (52,500 – 94,500) or square (47,250 – 57,750) – the gold is revealed in different ways.

Check out all our stories on Torafu.

source: @_TORAFU

I’m going a bit crazy over this Landskip Bag designed by fu-na. What a great idea! My kids would love this.

The LandskipBag takes its name from “landscape” and “skip” – describing a person who feels so happy that he/she cannot stop skipping around. You can create your own forest scene by fastening animal badges to the bag.

“fu-na” is a Japanese creative studio comprised of  Chiduru Fukino and N. fu-na’s products are completed by users themselves, who add their unique arrangements to the items.

source: monoco

click images to enlarge

It’s not too often I get to write about product design AND packaging design in the same post. In this case, I think the packaging design beats the actual product. Japanese furniture manufacturer Tendo Mokko has released their latest design, the Coshell Chair (26,250 yen). The chair derives its name from the Yamagata dialect (Coshell; こしぇる which means “to make”) and is an homage to the earnest craftsmanship of the Tohoku region.

The chair features a molded white beech plywood frame that creates gentle, exquisite lines. But where it really shines is in its thoughtful and elegant packaging. The chair comes flat-packed and can be assembled in roughly 20 minutes using only a hexagonal wrench. It’s a great example of small material, high impact design.

Check out the making-of pictures below, which are fascinating.

Source: Submission

It’s one of contemporary society’s odd twists and turns. For reasons that are beyond my understanding, one way that our human race chooses to celebrate, and in turn, manifest, our carnal pleasures and is by rendering them in inflatable PVC-coated nylon. Whatever turns you on, whether its English pubs, slightly NSFW installation art or Stonehenge, you can bet an inflatable version exists.

Enter graphic design duo Ryohei “Wabi” Kudo and Kazushi “Sabi” Nakanishi of WabiSabi. The two applied the inflatable treatment to one of Japan’s most beloved and revered pastimes: bonsai – the art of growing miniature trees in containers. The “Air Bonsai” comes in black and white, and adds some nice artificiality to any garden. It was recently awarded the JAGDA 2012 award.

Bonsai is actually a recurring theme in the designer’s work. Back in 2005 the two created a bonsai illustration using calligraphy.

Source: JAGDA homepage | wabisabi

While the indulgent and raucous happenings of Salone Milano were taking place, London-based Japanese designer Shin Azumi quietly announced his latest design – Cacomi: a series of modular office furniture for Japanese furniture manufacturer Itoki. Meaning “encolsure” in Japanese, Cacomi is a diverse and flexible collection that  allows you to pair varying furniture of varying heights.

I know it’s wishful thinking but I would love to see a bunch of Japanese salarymen with their iconic combovers chatting it up at a modern desk like this.

And this is just a side note, but I find it fascinating how different an aesthetic Japanese designers produce depending on whether they are based in Japan or abroad.

Source: @shin_azu | newsletter

If Ernesto Neto’s genitalia art was turned into lighting, it might possibly resemble the work of Ryosuke Fukusada, a Japanese designer currently based in Milan and working for Patricia Urquiola. Where the Brazilian artist – who happens to be having a show in NYC right now – uses crocheted netting to lift us off the ground, Fukusada uses compressed netting to lift LED lamps off the ground, and hold them in place.

Net Lamp’s structure is actually quite genius – 2 metal discs support each side of the cylindrical net. The compressed knitting holds the LED globe in place but also allows you to move it freely throughout the net.

images courtesy Ryosuke Fukusada and manuelacifarelli | click to enlarge

source: Ryosukefukusada.com