Tokujin Yoshioka Design

Tokujin Yoshioka is one of the most important Japanese designers working today. Famed for his technically excellent work and superb appreciation of light as a design material, he uses fibre optics, stunning light installations and reflective-transparent materials in a way that leaves the observer with the impression that the future has arrived.

One of his most famous projects so far is the design for the Issey Miyake shop in Kobe (2001), which was realized with transparent glass and acrylic furniture. His grand-scale style of design has recently brought him recognition on the international stage, and he has won a host of accolades, including the Award of Excellence from the I.D. Annual Design Review for two years running (2000 and 2001). Showing particular interest in new materials and technologies, his work ranges from the amazing Honey-pop chair (2001), which is constructed solely through honeycomb sheets of paper, to a form of architecture based on an appropriating and painstaking act of relocation (Transforming a Japanese Warehouse, 1999–2000).

This book presents his entire body of work through beautiful and abstract photographs showing Tokujin’s finished designs, accompanied by sketches, drawings and snapshot images showing the processes at work behind his designs to help explain his complex technological approach. There is an introduction by Issey Miyake and a main survey of Tokujin’s work to date by the writer, curator and critic, Ryu Niimi. This is followed by four chapters, on Light, Transparency, Motion and Material, each beginning with an essay and looking at key designs in more detail. Essays are contributed by four key protagonists in the design world, Ross Lovegrove, Ingo Maurer, Kozo Fujimoto and Paola Antonelli.

Ryu Niimi is a curator, writer and critic who featured in Spoon. Professor of Arts Policy and Management at Musashino Art University, he has also worked as curatorial adviser to the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum of Japan. He was curator at Sezon Museum of Art, Tokyo, from 1982 to 1999, where he curated several exhibitions of design and architecture. He is author of Essays on Modern Architecture, Design and Gardens (2000).

Ross Lovegrove is an established designer whose clients include Edra and Luceplan. He has recently published his first book, Supernatural, with Phaidon, and lives in London.

Kozo Fujimoto is in charge of communications for the Hermès fashion house in Japan. He is the driving force for the window display projects at the Renzo Piano-designed store and offices for the company, for which he collaborates with a range of world-renowned designers.

Ingo Maurer is respected on a global scale for his creative lighting designs. He first established himself with his YaYaHo light and has since grown to develop many projects and to exhibit his work in Europe and New York. In 1999 he opened his own shop/showroom in New York.

Paola Antonelli joined the Museum of Modern Art in 1994 and is a curator in the department of architecture and design in New York.  She has contributed articles to many publications and has lectured widely.

Elisa Astori is the daughter of Enrico Astori, the founder of the Italian design manufacturer Driade.

Issey Miyake is a highly respected and innovative Japanese fashion designer with shops in London, Paris, New York and other cities.