Category — Industrial Design

Over the years the stackable stool has evolved from an elementary-school utility to more thoughtfully designed art pieces. But in a new iteration, Tokyo-based designer Taiji Fujimori has applied both of those characteristics to his Myrtle chest, which, alone, functions as both a stool and a drawer. But when stacked together by carefully designed legs and sockets, it transforms into a dresser.

There’s something really adorable in the way these little guys appear to be precariously climbing on each other’s shoulders. And I like how there are spaces in-between for items you don’t necessarily want to hide away.

Brooklyn based designer Takeshi Miyakawa has just completed a new table for the gallery Salon 94 Bowery. Titled “Still De Stijl,” the round table pays homage to the early 1900s Dutch art movement (also known as neo-plasticism) by incorporating channel-shaped legs of different sizes. The unique, colorful design is a clear throwback to the geometric and asymmetrical qualities that are so iconic of painters like Piet Mondrian.

The legs of the round table are finished with casted epoxy mixed with fluorescent green pigment – the same color as his client’s logo. “Epoxy casting is really time consuming since I can only do one surface at a time,” says Miyakawa. “However, the result is quite beautiful. You cannot achieve this depth by just painting a color.”

Below: a rectangular version of the table, which we got a peak of when we visited his studio last year. Read all our articles on Takeshi Miyakawa.

Not to be outdone by Nendo, Tokujin Yoshioka, the Japanese artist and designer known for creating exquisite objects from unexpected materials, has teamed up with 4 different companies, presenting a range of work that, at times, overlaps with one another. Yoshioka has once again returned to what is perhaps one of his favorite meditative studies: the crystal. In fact, one time he even made a chair from crystals he grew himself!

Some believe they balance yin and yang energy, while others claim they bring good luck. But Yoshioka is more interested in the physical, rather than metaphysical, properties of crystal – in this case, their ability to refract light.

Mirage

Collaborating with Italian furniture design company Lema, Yoshioka has designed a collage of mirrored plates. The panels, which can be manipulated and freely arranged into various positions and angles seems at once to be consistent with this year’s theme of kinetic, rather than static furniture. “Mirage” functions both as a mirror, but also as an art piece, and performs in precise yet entirely unpredictable ways.

PRISM

His piece for Glas Italia is also a mirror, albeit a much simpler one. But look closely and you’ll find that it’s embedded with a treasure trove of prior experimentations. Composed of thick, high-transparency glass, the frames are cut to create a shimmering refraction of light.

Sparkle

This bling is not what it appears to be. Created for Kartell, the Italian company that makes plastic contemporary furniture, Yoshioka’s series of stools and side tables look like they belong behind armored glass. But in fact, they’re made from polycarbonate, the clear and nearly unbreakable plastic used to make everything from baby bottles to windows. “Sparkle” is cut in just a way to give it the appearance of crystal glass. And a distinctive twist is given to each piece to further enhance the refraction of light.

Element

Seemingly an outlier, the series of tables for Italian furniture manufacturer Desalto are made from stainless steel and aluminum, a stark visual contrast to the other shiny, delicate-looking pieces. But the genesis of Yoshioka’s collection can actually be found in his experiments growing crystals. Taking his cue from the way naturally occurring crystals are intergrown with adjacent crystals, “Element” is made up of a perpendicular support that attaches itself to a wide base. A table top rests on the structure, forming a precarious balancing act that is, needless to say, molecularly stable.

The one burning question I have (and perhaps the key to understanding Yoshioka’s work) is, who is that mystery woman who appears in almost every single collection!?!

Naoto Fukasawa has designed a minimalist stacking stool for Italian furniture maker Plank, which joins a small but expanding family of chairs that Fukasawa began designing for the company last year. The simplistic design “seeks to go beyond the presentation of simple objects, suggesting more than just a “product”, rather an idea of how to enjoy your own space at best,” says the company.

The entire body of the chair is made from natural ash tree and comes in 5 different colors. And while particular attention was undoubtedly paid to the harmonious proportions of the wood, the choice to use a stainless steel foot rest serves only marginally to push this stool out of a grey category known as “boring.”

Arguably one of the busiest designers this year at Milano Salone is Nendo. They designed…. let’s just say, A LOT of products. An excessive amount. Oki Sato is debuting products with Glas Italia, the prestigious Italian glassware company who, in the past, has tapped design heavyweights like Shiro Kuramata, Naoto Fukasawa and Tokujin Yoshioka.

He designed 2 items: “mirror chair,” a self-explanatory piece of furniture that employs a frosted gradiation, and “deep sea,” a table and storage unit that uses blue hues to also create a gradient effect.

Not to leave their Japanese brethren behind, Nendo also collaborated with Conde House to design several items. “Fold” is a bookshelf made from zig-zaging interlocking wooden boards that allow books to be displayed in 2 different directions. All of Conde House’s furniture is crafted by artisans at a mill in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, and this bookshelf is no exception. “The joints appear seamless, as though single boards have been bent and interwoven like paper chains or a woven textile,” says Nendo. “It’s virtually impossible to know, looking at the shelves, how the parts are connected.”

They’ve also designed “Splinter Collection,” a series of furniture that is inspired by nature; in particular, the way bark pares away from wood.

This post is part of our review of the 2013 Milano Salone del Mobile. All posts are cataloged right here.

image courtesy Alexander Lagergren

In the 1980s there was Ettore Sottsass and Shiro Kuramata. In the 2000s there was Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa. Now, the latest tie-up between Italian and Japanese designers is Luca Nichetto and Oki Sato from Nendo, representing a new generation of heavy-weight collaborations.

Nichetto always had an appreciation for Japan. “For a European guy to discover that amazing culture, and the precision with which things are done, is fantastic,” he told Dwell Magazine. And when he met Sato for coffee in Stockholm, the two hit it off and immediately decided to create a collaborative collection that they would display in Milan.

But with only 4 months until the fair, they didn’t have time on their side. “Oki told me that in Japan in the past, there was this poetry called renga,” Nichetto recalled, “where one poet would send the first three sentences to another poet. And the second one replied with the last two sentences.” And there you had it. Oki would send Nichetto some sketches and Nichetto would work on them and send them back. In just several days the two came up with seven co-conceived products that included glass shelves, a candle holder, paper lamps and a modular carpet.

photos by Hiroshi Iwasaki

Sheets of glass with a satin-finished front and coated back give the shelves the transparency and softness of a speech bubble floating in mid-air.

A sofa like an archipelago, divided into small parts rather than one great mass.

A carpet whose form, colour and size can change flexibly thanks to its parts: small overlapping pieces like fish scales or roof tiles.

Washi paper lamps that resemble ice cream. When lit, the lamp’s soft light makes the paper fibers stand out, and each color brings a subtly different character.

A trellis room divider made from highly stretchable fabric attached diagonally to the frame.

Left: the wedge candle holder can accommodate all shapes and sizes. | Right: A stool that’s easy to pick up and carry about, thanks to its round form and
‘handle’ like a pot handle.

This post is part of our review of the 2013 Milano Salone del Mobile. All posts are cataloged right here.

In addition to their cork bathroom fixtures, designer duo designer duo Ryosuke Fukusada and Rui Pereira have designed “faro,” a portable fireplace in response to increasingly high-tech world. “The proliferation of PCs and smartphones has created wider chasms around the individual,” says Fukusada. “Places for people to come together and communicate are becoming more and more rare.” By redesigning an object that, since the beginning of time, has brought people together, the designers hope to reignite the flame of face-to-face communication.

Modeled after a traditional wood-stove, the ethanol stove was developed in collaboration with Eco Smart Inc. so that it can safely be used indoors. But it also has the flexibility to be moved outdoors and loaded with firewood.

This post is part of our review of the 2013 Milano Salone del Mobile. All posts are cataloged right here.

The designer duo Ryosuke Fukusada (Japanese) and Rui Pereira (Portuguese), who wowed the design world last year with their subversive yet adorable edible furniture cakes, have turned their attention from the kitchen to the bathroom. Merging Japanese and Portuguese tradition, they’ve created “bug collection,” a series of bathroom accessories that attempt to create stronger connections between the washroom and the rest of the house.

Playing off of the fact that Portugal is one of the world’s largest cork producers, the designers incorporated this product of the cork oak tree not only for symbolism but also for its impermeability and hypoallergenic qualities. I really appreciate the attention to detail in modeling the cork trays after Japanese geta footwear.

Bug Collection will debut at ventura lambrate during salone del mobile.

This post is part of our review of the 2013 Milano Salone del Mobile. All posts are cataloged right here.

Back in 2008, fascinated by their translucency and strength, Nosigner began experimenting with egg shells in various capacities.

Hatch is a planter made from real egg shells. Mimicking the way eggs nurture the young, greenery feeds off of the nutrition found in egg shells. And because the egg shells are biodegradable, they can be planted in the wild once the plant outgrows its nest.

all photos by HATTA | click to enlarge

Rebirth is a lighting product made from real egg shells. Despite their inherent fragility, egg shells can disperse weight amongst themselves, allowing for large, complex structures to be built. The resulting forms appear to be autonomous in its beauty, much like the naturally-occurring shapes found in nature.

Surrounded by artificiality in this day and age, there exists a strong desire to touch life, nature and other “real” things so as to reaffirm our existence. Titled “Rebirth,” this light was, quite literally, born from life itself. The egg shells possess remnants of life, which are sure to create a relationship that goes beyond just human and object.

Maico Akiba, whose series, “100 years later,” we previously featured, has another project simply titled SEKAI, or “world.” In it, she imagines miniature ecosystems growing on the backs of other animals. There are people but also remnants of civilization like electric poles or shops often overrun by weeds and vines. It’s almost like a reverse-Noah’s Arc.

In 2012 the series was commercialized in the form of cell phone straps. But I like the detail-heavy originals better.