In postwar Japan, numerous metal processing companies sprouted up in the port town of Yokohama. Their metal pipes, sheets, precision parts and torque hinges were the invisible backbones of industrial Japan, quietly but robustly supporting all types of industry. But metal isn’t only limited to industrial use. Its various properties, if harnessed properly, can be applied to all kinds of home and personal products. And to promote this idea, a consortium of metal companies in Yokohama teamed up to form Yokohama Makers Village.
For their first line of products, Yokohama Makers Village teamed up with product designers at id to create a line of metallic flower vases. One would be hard-pressed to find something that sits at such an opposing end of the spectrum, which is why flowers and their vessels were the perfect subject to test the versatility of metal. Twelve unique vases were created that utilize various metal processing technologies. The resulting collection, which deftly balances soft and hard; light and heavy, were displayed at Milan Design Week 2017 earlier this year. And many of the pieces are now on sale, albeit at exorbitant prices, through the groups’s online shop.
“Tree” is a stainless steel flower vase made from a special machining process that creates the defining pattern to resemble the texture of tree bark
“Oblique Line” is a vase that exhibits a pot-like shape through intersecting lines
the vase was delicately created to blend into the atmosphere and is designed to display all parts of the flowers including the stems
“Vacancy” is a vase that highlights the flowers by having them branch out from the metal frame
It allows a style of flower arrangement that values marginal spaces.
“Radiate” is a vase inspired by the release of spores and oxygen
Made from aluminum, the vase was created by carefully employing the drawing process of delicate wire cutting techniques
“Float” is a flower vase featuring a vine stretching out like an ivy plant
“Mirage” is formed from fifteen containers stacked together
