designboom and time & style's design talks at milan design week 2023

In the continued effort to evolve traditional Japanese techniques to create products for modern life, Time & Style welcomes a series of collaborative design talks and furniture debuts, and western-eastern fusion during Milan Design Week 2023. Ryutaro Yoshida, CEO of Time & Style, is joined in conversation with Kengo Kuma, Claesson Koivisto Rune, DRILL DESIGN, and Aoi Huber Kono, moderated by designboom founder Birgit Lohmann. A care for craft, materials, and makers are the focus of these unmissable moments.

Join Time & Style and designboom for ‘design talks’ during Milan Design Week 2023 – register for the waiting list, here.

Design Talks schedule in conversation with Ryutaro Yoshida, moderated by Birgit Lohmann

time & style design talks during milan design week 2023

Time & Style believes in the importance of using traditional Japanese techniques and materials to create beautiful, functional, and long-lasting furniture pieces. All designs are manufactured – most often by hand – at the brand’s Higashikawa factory on the northernmost island of Hokkaido. This evolution of craftsmanship takes center-stage at its showroom in the city during Milan Design Week 2023. Ryutaro Yoshida, CEO of Time & Style, converses with renowned architects and designers who have collaborated on the manufacturer’s latest furniture lines, moderated by designboom founder Birgit Lohmann.

Time & Style’s showroom in the city hosts the events during Milan Design Week 2023

The first of the new furniture pieces debuts the eponymous collection by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The series realizes designs that the architect and his atelier have assembled for individual architectural projects over fifty years. For the first time, the designs are now available to consumers worldwide thanks to Time & Style’s craftmanship. Notably including the Valserliege chaise longue, the pieces testify to Zumthor’s philosophy of clean geometries without decorative elements.

Including the Valserliege chaise longue, Peter Zumthor’s furniture designs continue his use of clean geometries

Originated from a wordplay, kaku-kaku, denoting ‘angular’ in Japanese, the KA sofa designed by architect Kengo Kuma mimics the landscape of the Asian country. Whilst the sofa’s flat seat extends like a horizon, the triangular prism-shaped backrest runs horizontally as if a range of mountains. This linear silhouette is expertly hand-cut and upholstered by artisans, using a textile inspired by scanned moss. The resulting three-dimensional, cylindrical knit brings a rich visual and tactile quality to the surfaces.

Kengo Kuma’s design for the KA sofa references the angular landscape of Japan

The Drop Paper lamp by Claesson Koivisto Rune was originally designed for the K5 Tokyo – a hotel whose interior design was conceived by the Swedish design trio. The lamp was realized using the techniques of Suifu lantern-making in the Ibaraki prefecture. A delicately-curved water droplet shape is formed using strips of polyetheylene terephthalate resin wrapped in washi paper. Echizen washi paper – with a history of about 1,500 years – was chosen specifically for its warm color and durability. The material is traditionally used in large sheets for expansive fittings like sliding fusuma doors and folding byobu screens.

Claesson Koivisto Rune originally created the Drop Paper lamp for the K5 Tokyo hotel

Re-imagining a classic, DRILL DESIGN creates the Diamond Back chair as an elegant, lounge-like evolution of the Windsor chair. The design’s appearance balances the dichotomies of the classic and modern with calmness and tension. Eight spokes interlace into a diamond-shaped pattern on the back, gently embracing the user for comfortable seating. This structure – together with a fabric upholstery for the seat – prevents warping to reduce fatigue in the long term. As if a continuous arm, the back then flows seamlessly into the armrests. The studio employed Japanese bentwood technology to realize this sensual form.

DRILL DESIGN imagined the Diamond Back chair as an elegant, lounge-like evolution of the Windsor chair

time & style ēdition with Boffi I DePadova

At the Japanese furniture brand’s Milan showroom on April 19, 2023, the Time & Style publicly presents ēdition for the first time, after originally launching in 2020. The furniture collection marks the debut partnership between Boffi I DePadova and Time & Style. It originated once Roberto Gavazzi, CEO of Boffi I DePadova, recognized the potential of the Japanese manufacturer’s cultural background and craftsmanship to create fresh, sophisticated living spaces when combined with Italian products.

Boffi I DePadova debuts novelties for Time & Style ēdition, after originally launching in 2020

The eclectic assortment of contemporary Japanese furniture pairs harmoniously with Boffi I DePadova, from low tables and chairs in solid wood to light fixtures with shades made from washi paper. Each design emphasizes a discreet and elegant fusion of western and eastern aesthetics; they reveal the vision of Italian design and the sense of beauty of Japan. Made in Time & Style’s Higashikawa factory, the products are exclusively distributed at the Italian brand’s showrooms across 70 major cities worldwide.

Make sure not to miss the moment. Register for Time & Style and designboom’s ‘design talks’ during Milan Design Week 2023 – waiting list, here.

The Drop Paper lamp’s delicately-curved water droplet shape is formed using strips of resin wrapped in washi paper

Eight spokes of the Diamond Back chair interlace into a namesake pattern to gently embrace the sitter

Designs demonstrate the importance of creating with traditional Japanese techniques and materials

Design Talks are hosted at Time & Style’s Milan Showroom at Largo Claudio Treves, 2

design talks info:

event: design talks

brand: Time & Style

participants: Kengo Kuma, Claesson Koivisto Rune, DRILL DESIGN, and Aoi Huber Kono

moderator: Birgit Lohmann, designboom founder

dates: april 17-19, 2023

address: Time & Style Showroom, Largo Claudio Treves, 2, Milano

design talk event schedule:
17 April 17:00-17:40 – design talk with Kengo Kuma
17 April 18:00-18:40 – design talk with Claesson Koivisto Rune
18 April 17:00-17:40 – design talk with DRILL DESIGN + Aoi Huber Kono
19 April 17:00-18:00 – Time & Style ēdition by Boffi I DePadova CEO Roberto Gavazzi

registration: waiting list, here