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shiro kuramata: 10 years after kuramata's death, we wanted to look back on his work ....................................................................................................
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 ......................... shop .................. competitions .............. education ................ interviews ................... snapshots ................... history .......... contemporary
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| shiro kuramata - august 2001 -  -------------------------------------------------- shiro kuramata died 10 years ago. he translated workaday industrial materials -wire steel mesh, corrugated aluminium, lucite- into poetic objects and interiors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 'side1', 1970 + more cabinets  'glass chair', 1976 + see more  '01 chair', 1979 + see more  'kyoto' table, 1983 + more tables  'how high the moon', 1986 + more steel mesh furniture  'ko-ko', chair, 1986 + more chairs  'miss blanche' 1988 + see more  flower Vase #2, 1989 + more objects  free standing glass wash basin, 1991 manufactured by rapsel  the extra-long, aluminium 'laputa' bed, 1991 + see more |
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| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- kuramata's designs reflect the confidence and creativity of postwar japan, retaining a strong identity based on traditional japanese aesthetics while breaking new ground through the use of innovative materials. he combined the japanese concept of the unity of the arts with his fascination with contemporary western culture, inventing a new design vocabulary: : the ephemeral, the sensation of floating and release from gravity, transparency and the construction of light. kuramata reassessed the relationship between form and function, imposing his own vision of the surreal and of minimalist ideals on everyday objects. born 1934 in tokyo between the wars, the son of an administrator who became vice-director of a scientific institute, kuramata was raised in japan. he received a traditional training in the woodcraft department at tokyo's polytechnic high school, and then went on to work in a furniture factory, the 'teikoku kizai company' (1953). he pursued his studies in interior design at the 'kuwasawa design school' in tokyo (1956) -institute that taught western concepts of interior design- the he was hired by the small department store 'san-ai' as a designer of showcases as well as floor and window displays (1957). after a brief stint as a freelance designer for the retail giant 'matsuya department store' (1964) the following year he opened his own design office in tokyo (1965). during the 1970s and 80s, kuramata, alert to the revolutionary possibilities of new technologies and industrial materials, seized upon acrylic, glass, aluminum, and steel mesh to create objects that appear to break free of gravity into airy realms of transparency and lightness. he was awarded with the 'mainichi industrial design prize' (1972) design of the acrylic lamp 'oba-Q'/ghost (1972), design of glass chair and glass table (1976) he received the japan cultural design award (1981). he was inspired by ettore sottsass’s playful spirit and love of bright color and joined sottsass’s collective, the design group 'memphis', based in milan, at its founding in 1981. sottsass was considered the italian designer to be his 'maestro.' design of homage to hoffmann 'begin the beguine' (1985), design of steel mesh chair 'how high the moon' (1986). each of kuramata’s pieces is realized in a process of meticulous craftsmanship and painstaking attention to detail that is rooted in centuries-old japanese tradition. the interior spaces he designed were as experimental as his furniture: for example the series of boutiques he created for the fashion designer issey miyake : -the boutique in the bergdorf goodman department store in new york (1984), -the boutique in paris and -the boutique at the seibu department store in shibuya, tokyo (1987). in his desire to produce a transparent architecture, he attempted to erase any traces of structure, eliminating doorknobs and other elements he considered to be 'visual impurities.' design of the acrylic/artificial roses chair 'miss blanche' (1988) the french government awarded the kuramata the distinguished 'ordre des arts et des lettres' (1990). between 1989 and his premature death in 1991, kuramata produced the tinted aluminum 'laputa', design of a free standing glass wash basin (1991), as an endorsement of the high regard in which kuramata is held amogst the connoiseurs of the art world, as 'miss blanche' was sold at christies, london for £46'000 in 1997. also , a 'how high the moon' two seater was sold for £12'650 at bonhams london in 1998. this ranks kuramata amongst the most desirable of artists/designers of the 20th century. --- exhibitions --- SHIRO KURAMATA: 1934-1991 layout of the exhibition : ettore sottsass 29.6. - 23.9.1996, the hara museum of contemporary art, tokyo http://www.haramuseum.or.jp exhibition catalogue : shiro kuramata. with essays by arata isozaki, ettore sottsass, tadashi yokohama, françois burkhardt, and andrea branzi. text in english and japanese. foundation arc-en-ciel, tokyo 1996. --- the retrospective toured internationally: 8.8 - 2.12.1997 san francisco museum of modern art / SFMOMA http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/exhib_detail/97_exhib_shiro_kuramata - 25.2.98 - 2.5.1998 grey art gallery, new york university, new york city http://www.nyu.edu/greyart/exhibits/shiro/html/kuramata.html - the montreal museum of decorative arts, canada http://www.mbam.qc.ca/madm/kuramata - 13.10 - 27.12.1998 musée des arts décoratifs, paris http://www.paris.org/Musees/Decoratifs - 20. 1. - 14. 3. 1999 museum für angewandte kunst / MAK , vienna http://www.mak.at --- manufacturers/distributors of kuramata furniture: http://www.cappellini.it http://www.paulhughes.co.uk http://www.yamagiwausa.com http://www.rapsel.it --- ---  ------- monthly designboom newsletter ------- ------- ? comments and contact us ? -------  |
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