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Tokujin Yoshioka
Tokujin is a master of technical innovation, developing imaginative methods of production completely unique in the field. Marrying traditional craft to cutting-edge technology, his work evinces a remarkable ability to transform mundane materials - glass, plastics, fabrics, paper, even tissues - into magical objects and environments.
Tokujin Yoshioka was born in Japan in 1967 and, after having studied at length with Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyake, in 2000 set up his studio, Tokujin Yoshioka Design, in Tokyo.
Tokujin Yoshioka came to the Milan furniture show for the first time in 2002, presenting the chairs Honey Pop and Tokyo Pop for Driade.
Again for Driade, in the same year, he designed an extraordinary installation, transforming the entire space, in the heart of Milan, into a futuristic Japanese garden.
Honey Pop chair (above)
created from a two dimensional build up of 120 pieces
of glassine paper which are glued together and precisely cut.
The structure is then opened forming a strong three
dimensional honeycomb structure.
Pane chair in the Moroso showroom in Milan, Tokujin used about 3 million straws for this installation (above)
A detail of the installation “I got the idea for Bouquet from the installation I created last October for Moroso's New York showroom. I used about 30,000 paper tissues to recreate a cloud-like atmosphere. The Bouquet makes people who sit on it happy, just as a bouquet makes the person who receives it happy. The vibrant, delicate colours trigger different sensations in each of us.”
The "Bouquet" chair for Moroso
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His partnership with Issey Miyake has been in existence for over 20 years. Tokujin Yoshioka has taken part in a number of projects by the fashion designer, designing among other things Issey Miyake and A-POC stores and producing the installation entitled Issey Miyake Making Things for the Cartier foundation in Paris, achieving international fame.
Pane is made of a translucent spongy material called polyester elastomer. A half cylindrical part is covered with a sheet and baked in an oven to fix its shape, with the ends of the arms remaining exactly like two pieces of twisted textile. But why “pane”? In Italian, “pane” means bread and Tokujin Yoshioka explains that the project’s development closely resembled cookery: he had to try different ingredients and do a lot of oven baking before he got the appropriate recipe.
The "Tissue Paper Installation" for Moroso in NYC.
One of the most recent and interesting experimental design works by Tokujin Yoshioka is the Pane Chair presented at last year's Milan furniture show.
The name comes from the production process of the chair, similar to baking bread. The material is inserted in a mould and, as when bread is baked, placed in an oven. The fibres stiffen and memorise the shape of the mould through the effect of the heat. At the end of "cooking" the finished chair is taken out.
The Pane Chair played a major role at the exhibition Tokujin Yoshioka x Lexus L-Finesse - Evolving Fiber Technology, staged at the Museo della Permanente in Milan. On that occasion Tokujin Yoshioka created an installation with more than 7000 km of optical fibres, transforming the space into a giant lens.
The "Tissue Paper installation" (above) with the Panna chair the evolution of Pane
In the autumn of 2006 he presented his solo exhibition entitled Tokujin Yoshioka - Super Fiber Revolution, at the Axis gallery in Tokyo, seen as the completion of his research and experimental study of materials. Concurrently the British publishers Phaidon published the monograph book entitled Tokujin Yoshioka Design, distributed worldwide, which describes his experimental design, always in pursuit of new possibilities for future developments.
Tokujin Yoshioka has received a number of awards and his works are displayed in the permanent collections of the most prestigious museums in the world: the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Vitra Design Museum in Berlin and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Preparing the Bouquet. |
