http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/18378/sori-yanagi-obituary-by-jasper-morrison.html
courtesy of designboom.
I first got to see this product in person at the MOMA over the summer in NYC. I was instantly struck by it's delicate, organic shape and the simple nature of it. To me it exemplifies what I so deeply admire about East Asian art and culture, particularly Japan's.
It has a wonderfully considered and poetic nature about it. It's simple, but also intriguing at the same time. It's modern, but also timeless. I visited Japan in 2007, when I got to see first hand how deeply ingrained aesthetic sensibilities are in Japanese culture. That trip fueled what will be a lifelong admiration and respect for Japanese art and design. Walking through the streets of Tokyo and Kyoto it is deeply apparent that Japan is a special place. The buildings, the graphics/logos of businesses and the city lights blaring at night are some of the things I miss most. I remember thinking to myself during that trip "Wow! This culture is light years ahead in design and creativity." I was at once humbled and inspired. I felt privileged as a child of such a young culture like the U.S. to see the wonderful aesthetic refinement of one of the oldest cultures in the world. Put simply, Japanese people inherently just "get it" when it comes to beauty.
This stool is such a wonderful design. It looks like it could have been designed this year and yet it was designed in 1956. Sori Yanagi is probably the best designer you've never heard of. He was passed over in my design school; although I'm disappointed, I can see why. His work, like much of Japanese culture, is quietly poetic. It doesn't scream at you like the Italians do and it doesn't generate the money American design does. But it quietly exudes grace that no other culture could ever dream of. Simple but refined, humble and unassuming. I learned a lot about the subtle nature of curvature in sketching this. This product is an exemplar of warm materials and restrained but elegantly fluid form.
The story behind this design is also quintessentially Japanese. Sori designed this stool after becoming inspired by the bent wood techniques pioneered by American design duo Charles and Ray Eames. Sori took their American technological pioneering spirit and applied elegant, timeless Japanese aesthetics to it. It is pitch perfect in this regard. New and old. Forward thinking while honoring the past. Japan may not invent technologies, but they make them better. Yanagi San, I love your work, you did well!
Tell me what you think!
-Park
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