naoto fukasawa workshop: inevitable design

collage of naoto fukasawa’s workshop results by 11 singaporean designers images compiled by designboom

design inevitable is a three-day workshop conducted by japanese designer naoto fukasawa with 11 young, singapore-based designers. in january 2010 fukasawa set the stage at the beginning of the workshop with a statement: ‘minimalism is about creating harmony, not just about making it simple’. he guided the designers through a thinking process by getting them to sketch actions that people subconsciously perform on a day to day basis and to incorporate the element of the human touch into their furniture designs. employing a hands-on approach, the designers first produced scaled models of their designs before doing a photo shoot with these scale models in which they were taught photography techniques that would highlight their designs’ uniqueness.

‘tiptoe dining chair’ by yang tah ching image © designboom

staying true to his philosophy, fukasawa then continued to work with the designers in refining their concepts with the objective to refine their vision through their objects and of creating a commercial collection of furniture. finally in march 2011 the D’space showcase at the IFFS/AFS singapore furniture fair features all works that explore the singaporean identity.

image © designboom

participating designers: ’empty chair’ by jarrod lim, ‘fern forest chair’ by jason ong, ‘mount & mound’ by cheong yian ling, ‘n stool’ by wendy chua, ‘soft edge table’ by patrick chia, ‘surf coffee table’ by kenny hong, ‘tiptoe dining chair’ by yang tah ching, ‘twins – nana & lala’ by len lim, ‘untitled bed’ by ang xingwei, ‘WM bench’ by lee hae seung, ’15’ by felix low.

image © designboom

the workshop was organized by the SFIC singapore furniture industries council with the support of SPRING singapore, lasalle college of the arts and prototypes were made by XTRA designs pte ltd.

‘n stool’ by wendy chua image © designboom

‘twins – nana & lala’ by len lim image © designboom

’empty chair’ by jarrod lim image © designboom

image © designboom

‘fern forest chair’ by jason ong image © designboom

exhibition view image © designboom

from left to right: len lim, andrew pang, scott lee, jason ong, simon ong, patrick chia, kenny hong, naoto fukasawa, jennyfer lacroix, wendy chua, cheong yian ling, jarrod lim, herman lim, felix low, allen madrigal, ang xinwei

— about international furniture fair singapore/ASEAN furniture show (IFFS/AFS)

the international furniture fair singapore, held in conjunction with the ASEAN furniture show (IFFS/AFS) began in 1981 and has since grown to be regarded by industry experts as asia’s most prestigious furniture trade show. IFFS/AFS provides an effective marketing platform for regional companies to venture into global markets. as a testimony to the quality of the show, IFFS/AFS is the first asian-based international furniture fair to be accepted as a member of the elite union des foires internationales, a paris-based international authority on trade fairs. in addition, it is the only furniture trade event in singapore to be awarded the ‘approved international fair’ status by the singapore tourism board. IFFS/AFS is set to become even more comprehensive for the furniture players, with the addition of the inaugural deco asia and hospitality asia to expand the scope of the show.