maison et objet 2012: creator of the year tokujin yoshioka

tokujin yoshioka, maison et objet 2012 ‘creator of the year’ portrait © designboom

each year maison et objet selects three creatives who have made a significant impact to the design and architecture scene. this year’s ‘now! design à vivre designer of the year’ was awarded to japanese designer tokujin yoshioka.

acknowledged for the impact his work has had on the creative world, tokujin presents an evolution of his ‘crystalized project’ which first began in 2007. since the first pieces, the designer has experimented with forming new natural structures for which he can apply this crystallization process, such as painting and sculptural works.

through the new pieces, tokujin addresses the existence of natural disasters not just in japan, but around the world, wanting people to rethink the interaction between nature and human beings – that the possibilities of nature can be very beautiful, but at times also instill fear. though tokujin has shown similar installations of the work in other cities such as milan, this showing at maison et objet 2012 is the first of its kind in paris and he presents his new paintings and ‘rose sculpture’ which have never been shown to the public before.

see designboom’s previous articles on tokujin’s crystallization project: ‘venus’ crystal chair, ‘second nature’ at 21_21 design sight, and ‘stellar’ for swarovski crystal palace.

‘crystallized rose’ image © designboom

the life of the rose transforms itself along with the growth of crystals. here, the essence of the rose is crystallized, creating a new sculpture. ‘this work of art is completed by the serendipitous beauty born of nature which goes beyond human imagination.‘

‘crystallized rose’ detail image © designboom

evolution of the ‘crystallized rose’ images © designboom

installation view with the first project of the series ‘venus chair’  image © designboom

crystal formation image © designboom

crystallized painting ‘ballade no. 1 en sol mineur, 0. 23’ painting drawn by the growth of crystals while the music ‘ballade no. 1 en sol mineur, 0. 23’ by frédéric chopin image © designboom 

some of the new works are crystalized paintings including ‘ballade no. 1 en sol mineur, 0. 23’ and ‘fantaisie – impromptu, op. posth.66’, both of which the growth of the crystals were ‘drawn’ to the music of polish composer and musician frédéric chopin’s. with the vibration of music in the background, each individual painting, produced to the sound of the same song being played repeatedly, takes approximately half a year to complete.

detail of crystals forming for the ‘ballade no. 1 en sol mineur, 0. 23’ image © designboom 

crystallized painting ‘fantaisie – impromptu, op. posth.66’ painting drawn by the growth of crystals while the music ‘fantaisie – impromptu, op. posth.66’ by frédéric chopin image © designboom

detail image © designboom

tokujin unveiling one of the large vitrines housing a crystalized project for the maison et objet 2012 exhibition image © designboom

detail of the varying textures of the crystals image courtesy of tokujin yoshioka

detail of the varying textures of the crystals image courtesy of tokujin yoshioka

tokujin yoshioka gives designboom a sneak preview of his crystallized project before unveiling the vitrine installation at maison et objet 2012 video © designboom

video by tokujin yoshioka