takeshi miyakawa studio visit

takeshi miyakawa in his studio in new york city image © designboom

designboom has selected japanese born, new york based designer takeshi miyakawa to participate in our show ‘yakitate’ (in japanese: freshly baked) that will feature the works of eight upcoming talents from japan. under the theme ‘exploring the design process’, takeshi will demonstrate his production process, starting from a simple sketch, making models, leading up to the construction of a real object, as part of our ‘yakitate’ daily workshop program.

we invite you to visit our exhibition at dwell on design in los angeles, USA from june 24 – 26, 2011. hope to see you there!

you can download the full program and the participating designers’ profiles here (best viewable with acrobat reader) – for press: high res version available here.

model of takeshi’s studio image © designboom

takeshi’s interest in the ‘model’ as an abstract expression of buildings continues to instruct the tactile approach he takes to in his fabrication process; creating pieces only by hand with paper and foam study models, from conception to fabrication, maintaining his ideology of simplicity.

sliced logs act as shelves in which miyakawa displays his small mock-up models image © designboom

he designs furniture pieces that are minimal, architectural, but which retain a playful quality. working mainly in plywood, takeshi’s architectural education resonates through his choice of simple geometric forms, as well as his natural affinity for abstracting nature and urban life. deceivingly simple and humble in both his choice of materials and form, takeshi miyakawa’s works continually provoke and intrigue.

image © designboom

his fascination for craft started as early as five years old when his father taught him to bend bamboo strips with just a candle flame

as a means of making toy airplanes. after completing an architectural degree at the tokyo science university, takeshi worked as a construction

supervisor for four years. during this period he was exposed to highly skilled craftsmen. in 1989 he moved to new york city, where he has been working as a model maker at rafael vinoly architects since 1992. in 2001 he founded his own design office. designboom recently visited takeshi’s new studio during the new york design week in may 2011.

small model of ‘red eclipse, help japan! – designboom will bring the real project to the ‘yakitate’ show at dwell on design! image © designboom

see designboom’s article on miyakawa’s ‘red eclipse, help japan!’ table here.

many different miniature models are displayed in the studio image © designboom

image © designboom

various prototypes image © designboom

part of the tube table – studies of the curves that define the overall shape of the design image courtesy takeshi miyakawa

small model of the tube table (left) and the actual project (right) images courtesy takeshi miyakawa

the main hall of the studio is used for office work and displaying finished pieces and models image © designboom

from left to right: ‘gang for four’ shelf, ‘holey’ chair, ‘axonometric’ table image © designboom

takeshi miyakawa shows the miniature models of the ‘gang for four’ shelf image © designboom

more models… image © designboom

image © designboom

‘stump’ side table image © designboom

front: ‘axonometric’ table image © designboom

different view into the main hall of the studio image © designboom

boxes with material research and collection of bits and bobs image © designboom

takeshi miyakawa finds new shapes from objects that already exist image © designboom

paper pencils image © designboom

takeshi miyakawa at the studio entrance door image © designboom

from left to right: takeshi’s friend colgate searle, michael sylvester, managing director, dwell on design and the designboom team anita hackethal and jenny filipetti have visited takeshi’s studio during ICFF new york design week. image courtesy takeshi miyakawa

the studio includes a wood workshop with various machinery and tools image © designboom

takeshi has also participated in designboom’s curated exhibitions ‘NY local‘ in new york in 2009

and ‘asia now‘ at dwell on design in los angeles in 2010.