We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer TOMOAKI KAGEYAMA about their original and creative Table design work. TOMOAKI KAGEYAMA is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original table works.
TOMOAKI KAGEYAMA ("TK") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Sakura Cyclone Table. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
TK : Inspired by “In Praise of Shadows” by the great Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki.
TK : The goal was to produce furniture with a delicate Japanese sense of beauty that focuses not on light but on shadow.
TK : I am aiming for mass production, but I have not yet found a partner, so I am looking for furniture manufacturers with whom we can collaborate.
TK : Generating the idea did not take long, as I had always wanted to design the shape of the shadow. However, the process of materializing the idea took a considerable amount of time.
TK : This is an independent work. This work was produced as part of my research on bending wood.
TK : We are planning to mass produce and sell our products and are looking for a furniture manufacturer to whom we can outsource the production. We are looking for an Italian furniture manufacturer.
TK : I have always wanted to create furniture that expresses the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossoms.
TK : I like the works of Shiro Kuramata, who often designed light, but I, on the contrary, focused on shadows.
TK : Currently, the low table is intended for use in homes, but I am also considering making it into a high table for use in cafes and restaurants.
TK : I don't think there is any other furniture that focuses on the shape of falling shadows.
TK : I named it “Sakura Cyclone Table” because its shape resembles Isamu Noguchi's Cyclone Table.
TK : After hand-drawn sketches, the design was made in CAD.
TK : As mentioned above, the most unique aspect of the design is the shape of the falling shadow.
TK : Mr. Kuroda of Hidakuma, a wood consultant in Hida City, helped me a great deal during the testing and assembly stages of the bending wood.
TK : I did not rely on technology. In an age of technology, I needed to dare to consider this by hand.
TK : I valued actual experiences and inspections, not data or analytical surveys.
TK : The hardest part was figuring out how to assemble the wood to create the desired shadow shape.
TK : I entered this work for the A' Design Award because I thought it would be appreciated in Italy, a country where post-modernism has flourished.
TK : I learned about the characteristics of wood and how interesting it is. I would like to continue to challenge myself to create new works using wood.
TK : None in particular. Thank you very much.
