the nextmaruni project, this initiative involves one of japan’s best-known furniture companies .........................................................................................
......................... shop .................. competitions .............. education ................ interviews ................... snapshots ................... history .......... contemporary nextmaruni 12 chairs project
http://www.maruni.com/next/index/frameset_e.htm http://www.designtope.net/index_e.html the nextmaruni project this initiative involves one of japan’s best-known furniture companies, japanese craftsmanship and 12 international designers - participants are : alberto meda (milan), azumi (london), harri koskinen (helsinki), jasper morrison (london/ paris), kanji ueki (tokyo), kazuyo sejima (tokyo), masayuki kurokawa (tokyo), michele de lucchi (milan), naoto fukasawa (tokyo), shigeru uchida (tokyo), tamotsu yagi (san francisco), and to complete the group, sean yoo (milan) was selected as the 12th person from the project’s public competition held last autumn. manifestations of japanese aesthetic the designers were requested to design an archetype of chair design, a piece of art and hopefully a long time seller. with this project maruni wishes to enhance the dialogue with japanese culture - western design that incorporates and shares japanese aesthetic. the chairs will be shown during the milan furniture fair in april 2005 at the galleria jannone. maruni wood industries the company has been a household name in hiroshima since 1933 and has always been associated with high-quality, mass-produced home furnishings. this reputation compliments the corporation as being one of the largest wood furnishing companies in japan. takeo yamanaka, the founder of maruni spent his childhood in miyajima of hiroshima prefecture. he was influenced by its environment of traditional handicrafts. he graduated specialising in mechanical engineering and enthusiastically sought to apply the theories of machines to the woodworking sector. he founded the yamanaka research centre with other five craftsmen - maruni was born. the maruni wood industry inc. has always been a company that produced ‘western’ wooden furniture. like the majority of japanese industries, maruni has struggled to sustain sales growth since the late nineties after the bursting of the japanese economy. in addition, it was confronted with both changes in the design taste of domestic consumers and competition from cheaper furniture from other asian manufacturers. in 2003 maruni approached the designer masayuki kurokawa, which came up with the idea of commissioning various designers to design small wooden chairs, maruni’s area of expertise, and for which it had the technology and the resources. --- ------- monthly designboom newsletter ------- ------- ? comments and contact us ? -------	preview of the 12 chairs © nextmaruni, photo: yoneo kawabe from left to right : meda, azumi, koskinen, morrison, ueki © nextmaruni, photo: yoneo kawabe from left to right: de lucchi, fukasawa, uchida, yagi, yoo © nextmaruni, photo: yoneo kawabe sejima, kurokawa © nextmaruni, photo: yoneo kawabe from left to right : meda, azumi, koskinen, morrison, ueki, sejima, kurokawa, de lucchi, fukasawa, uchida, yagi, yoo © nextmaruni, photo: yoneo kawabe morrison © nextmaruni, photo: yoneo kawabe kurokawa jasper morrison, at his visit to the factory morrison, kurokawa jasper morrison, at his visit the nextmaruni tokyo office in kurokawa office jasper morrison at his visit the nextmaruni tokyo office in kurokawa office shigeru uchida michele de lucchi alberto meda details of his chair