shin azumi at asia now

the work of london based, japanese born designer shin azumi was featured in designboom’s ‘asia now‘ exhibition this year at dwell on design in los angeles.

‘NARA’ chair

the initial concept for the ‘NARA’ collection by japanese designer shin azumi was to create minimal structure while providing a maximum level of comfort. in this series created for danish furniture manufacturer fredericia, azumi wanted to express the sculptural beauty of solid timber and create comfortable furniture from a simple wooden structure. thus, the ‘NARA’ series pays homage to traditional scandinavian design while at the same time creating a new aesthetic language of its own. the word ‘NARA’ is taken from the japanese historic capital city which is famous for its free roaming, sacred deers.

‘NARA’ chair

when designing the ‘NARA’ chair, azumi first defined the top edge and vertical supports of the backrest to get the best level of comfort and to create maximum support. all superfluous material from the backrest was then removed. the ‘horns’ of the backrest provide the perfect place to hang a jacket or bag. although initially designed from a functional and structural perspective, as an end result the image of the chair resembles that of a deer.

‘NARA’ chair upholstered

‘NARA’ coat stand

‘NARA’ coat stand resembles a tree like structure, where each branch provides a place to hang an item of clothing. during the manufacture of other furniture, large amounts of waste are usually produced.  many small but good quality pieces of timber are often discarded. this design maximizes on those otherwise wasted pieces, creating a coat stand with minimal wastage of materials.

‘NARA’ coat stand image © designboom

‘NARA’ chairs at ‘asia now’ exhibition image © designboom

‘NARA’ chairs at ‘asia now’ – view to the japanese section image © designboom

japanese section of ‘asia now’ exhibition image © designboom

close-up of the exhibition panel for the japanese section of ‘asia now’ image © designboom

exhibition panel showing various contemporary works of japan image © designboom