Category — Uncategorized

click images to enlarge

In a recent press conference Italian ceramic design company Mutina announced that their latest collection, Phenomenon, will be styled by Tokujin Yoshioka. The company, which prides itself on its forward-looking and energetic attitude, has been aggressively  teaming up with high-profile designers such as Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec and Patricia Urquiola.

Known for his sensitive depictions of the laws of nature, as well as natural phenomenon, Yoshioka brings his signature style to ceramic tiling, interpreting them, not as industrial products, but as layers of nature, galvanizing our imagination of what ceramic tiling can be. The result is a beautiful fusion of the audacity of Italian design and the poetic lushness of Japanese design.

via @architecturephoto

My last post for this week on ceramics features On Za Line, who bring a rather avante garde yet functional twist to ceramics. Kiyomi Kodama and Ai Kurahashi have been working together since 2005, largely exploring the possibilities of porcelain. Their work culminated with the very successful (and perhaps most commercial) debut of “The Garden as Science Fiction” (2008), a line-up of products that included moss rings and leaf plates.

The Garden as Science Fiction

The pair embarked on a mission to build upon their success and released “The Garden as Science Fiction Vol 2,” which features vases modeled after plant roots. Once again, utilizing the pair’s favorite medium – porcelain – they attempted to depict our adoration and yearning for nature.

The Garden as Science Fiction Vol 2

In the same way roots often resemble human organs, the vases have an almost grotesque (in the most beautiful sense) resemblance to organs like the human heart. “Sooner or later we will all live amongst nature,” state the artists. Whether they are insinuating a return to nature after death, or perhaps predicting a world where nature has engulfed all of mankind, there is a fascinating morbidity about seeing roots on the table, serving as a vessel for flowers.

The Garden as Science Fiction

If you would like to see On Za Line’s work in person, they will be presenting at Next Standard (10/22 – 23), an exhibition that is part of the upcoming Japan Fashion Week.

click images to enlarge

Because I mentioned ceramics yesterday, I thought I would finish off the week with 2 more posts on ceramics that have been in sitting in my backlog. Koishiwara Pottery is the brainchild of Tomoko Nagao, self-proclaimed food coordinator and head Vege Mania. The project is a collaboration between her and 15 different kilns. Their motto is in the spirit of Kitaoji Rosanjin: tableware that makes food taste better.

The images are a few of my favorites, selected from their latest lineup. Clean lines and beautiful forms are always a turn-on for me.

Designer Masahiro Minami is 1 of 7 designers participating in  the  Shigaraki Life Ceramics exhibition, one of the highlights of the Shigaraki Art Festival taking place this month. With 15 kilns also joining in on the mix, the designers were asked to create a series of new products that utilized Shigaraki’s age-old tradition of ceramics, but also breathed new life into everyday objects.

The most eye-catching piece for me is Renca, an experimental design utilizing translucent ceramics and an LED backlight to create the most awe-inspiring sink I have ever seen. Imagine going to the bathroom at night and walking in on this beauty.

images courtesy of Masahiro Minami | click to enlarge

BIWAKO is a sink that’s modeled after lake Biwa and an adjacent lake Minami, which can be utilized as a soap dish.

Zipang is a set of organic ceramic plates that can be used individually or, when aligned correctly, can resemble the islands of Japan.

(FYI – the word “Japan” is said to have evolved from zipang, an ancient pronunciation used by the Chinese – and subsequently  repeated by Marco Polo – to refer to Japan, or something like that.)

Weedy is a cute pair of parking stops that sprout grass, adding a touch of green to your concrete parking lot.

minamo is a simple yet elegant line of dishes that pays homage to the roots of Shigaraki ceramics, which is said to have been characterized by clean lines and a small base that expands outward. This is quite contrary to Shigaraki ceramics as we know them today, which are defined by an earthy, often burnt look.

Omedetamago
A blend of the words Omedeto (congratulations – literally, bud has sprouted ) and Tamago (I hope you know what that means). It’s to be used as a gift for special occasions like weddings or births.

The intent of the piece is to force the receiver to break the ceramics, typically perceived as something negative, and turn it into something positive. Once the piece has broken in half it reveals a customized message and a figurine.

Related:

• Log by Masahiro Minami
• Chonmage Yookan by Masahiro Minami
• Pizzly Bears on Melting Ice

click images to enlarge

Ideaco is releasing a lineup of new products and within the mix are these stylish and minimal bookends that double as a letter holder and scotch tape dispenser.

The company, which is headed by Design Director Ichiro Haba and his team of 5 designers, was founded in 1989. The design gods smiled down upon them in 1998 when they released their CUBE umbrella holder, which became a blockbuster product for them and went on to sell of 400,000 units over 10 years.

The letter holder retails for 2,625 yen while the tape dispenser is 3,625 yen

via below the clouds

Nosigner’s latest addition to AWA, the line of furniture he developed in collaboration with the Tokushima Wood-Bamboo Workers Association, is FRAMES, a reworked version of a cheval glass mirror.

click images to enlarge

The piece – intended to be used in boutiques or salons – is not eye-catching or flashy. Its genius lies in objective and execution. The designer set out redesign the cheval glass mirror, an object that has remained largely unchanged since the late 18th century. And yet, it posed several problems. First of all, it could only be used by 1 person at a time.  Furthermore, the 2 pairs of long feet often became obstacles more than anything else.

conventional cheval glass mirror

The designer first went about by conceiving, what he calls, ideal form. What this turned out to be was not a 2D mirror but a 3D cubic structure with mirrors on all 4 sides.  The new design takes up an equal amount of space, can be used by 4 people at once and also affords storage within the unit. It still moves on 4 wheels, but the wheels are now hidden. And what’s more, it has shed practically all stylistic characteristics, therefore allowing it to blend into any environment.

Like I said, it’s certainly not flashy, but it’s a great example of how a simple design can yield such major changes.

Related:

• Ikushinsha Signage Campaign by Nosigner
• AWA by Nosigner
• Kanpyo Udon by Nosigner

Our recent nighttime routine, aside from me telling odd Japanese fairy tales to the kids, is to read Yorukuma (Night Bear), an absolute favorite of both the kids and myself.

[Spoiler Alert] It’s an enchanting tale about a child who is visited in the middle of the night by a little bear. The little bear had awoken to find its mommy gone so the child goes on a search with the bear. They look in honey stores, in parks, under tables and even in the sky. In the end they find the mommy fishing for star-eyed fish in order to feed the little one.

The beautiful, soft-spoken illustrations set the tone for this oh-so common story that so often goes untold. It strikes a cord with kids, who always want to be with their mommy and daddy, but also with working parents, who must, on a daily basis, deal with the pain of explaining to their child why they must leave them to go out and work.

(sorry about the glare in these pictures)

It was written and illustrated by Komako Sakai. One of her later works, Snow Day (2005), was published in English and went on to be named by the New York Times as one of the best children’s books of 2009.

click images to enlarge

I know…another artist rendering. But I would love to see this conceptual storage system come to fruition! Designed by Kenma, Makimono (PDF) – literally, “scroll” – allows the user to customize the display system to virtually any layout.

The concept came in 3rd place this year at the Okamura Visplay Design Competition. I spy some of their osusowake planters sitting on the top left shelf.

Nice illustration too!

Architecture office STAD, led by up and coming architect Toru Shimokawa, has some great ideas for organizing books. In the past I’ve seen a lot of ideas for furniture that incorporates book storage (such as the magtable, bibliochaise and bookshelf coffee table). But STAD’s Plywood Table for Books (2010) is perhaps my all-time favorite.

click images to enlarge

Not only is it adept in storage but its structure is inherently space-conscious in that it completely collapses. Fantastic!

Massive (2008) is a very simple yet infinitely customizable series of bookend. They come in 3 different sizes and by turning them upside down they can essentially adapt to any number or size of books.

As promised, here is a roundup of some of the goodies procured during our latest trip to Tokyo.

Our first stop was Watashi no Heya, a droolworthy shop I  have, well, drooled over in the past.

click images to enlarge

Next was FrancFranc, where we picked up this adorable coffee maker for 2. It’s come in handy as we try to adjust back to NY-time.

Although we own some, we picked up another pair of pig mugs designed by Kenjiro Sano. Not only do they make great gifts, they are also responsible for one of my favorite quotes: “it’s one of those things that’s not really funny but to Japanese people it’s f*ing hilarious.”

Our last stop was Afternoon Tea, where we picked up some cute ceramics for the kiddies, who are finally graduating from the indestructible IKEA plates. I immediately fell in love with the egg (tamago) pasta plates, as well as those cereal bowls.

Pictured above is the London motif but we also picked up the NY version.

How we managed to carry all this back without breaking anything is still a mystery to me.