Tokujin Yoshioka: Tornado
Art Artwork from Japan. Published by anonymous on Thursday 18 July 2013.
Born and based in Japan, Tokujin Yoshioka has an exceptional ability to create boundary-extending design filled with emotion and grace. Winning the Design/Miami Designer of the year award, "Tornado" was an installation design that married minimalism with indulgence, creating a surprising reinterpretation of mundane materials.
The exhibition, which ran from December 7-9, 2007 in a dedicated space within the Design Miami/ fair (Moore Building, Miami Design District), featured an array of pieces that represent Tokujin’s unique spirit and form of experimentation. On view will be the celebrated Honey-pop chair (2001) and the recent Pane chair (2006), as well as new furniture designs made of glass.
The Design Miami/ Designer of the Year Award annually recognizes a prominent designer, whose work demonstrates quality, originality, and influence, pushing the boundaries of art, architecture, and design. Zaha Hadid was Designer of the Year 2005 and Marc Newson was Designer of the Year 2006.
About Tokujin Yoshioka
Tokujin Yoshioka was born in Saga Prefecture, Japan in 1967 and has wanted to be a designer since the age of 6. After graduating from Kuwasawa Design School in Tokyo in 1986, he studied with Shiro Kuramata (1987-1988) and in 1988, began a working relationship with Issey Miyake that lasted for nearly two decades. Tokujin created window displays and accessory designs for Issey, as well as shop designs and an installation for the exhibition Issey Miyake Making Things that was on view in Paris, New York, and Tokyo. He sites this collaboration as the project that has given him the most satisfaction in his career. In 2000, he founded Tokujin Yoshioka Design. He has designed installations and promotional spaces for Hermes, Lexus, Apple, Peugeot, Toyota, Bang Olufsen, BMW, Audi, and Shiseido.
He has also worked with numerous companies to create unique products, such as lighting fixtures “Tear Drop” and “ToFU” for Yamagiwa; “Media Skin”—a mobile phone designed to meld with the user’s body like a second skin—for Au Design Project; “Tokyo-pop,” “Kiss Me Goodbye,” and “Boing” chairs for Italian furniture manufacturer driade.
His most recent product is the “Kimono” chair, designed for Swiss manufacturer Vitra. In 2005, he was commissioned to create a chandelier, “Stardust,” by Swarovski. Tokujin is also constantly proposing new designs through experimental art pieces like “Honey-pop,” a chair made from honeycomb folded paper; “Pane,” a chair created by baking the fibrous structural body in a kiln.
