INTERVIEW
We’ll start with a heavy-hitter. If you had to describe your philosophy on design, what would you say?
Minimim design. Conscious proportion. Ply wood as dy-
namic but determinte material.
Can you describe the moment when you knew that furniture design—crafting beautifully functional objects—was for you?
When people started buying it. I wanted to make some furniture pieces for my wife’s event at the Iko Iko space, and that’s kind of how it spiritually started. It was a show about books, so I made tables like cheese slices. That was a moment when I recognized stores offered a very physical, tactile experience to information and object exposure. Iko Iko was my platform to start thinking about functional pieces—and more broadly, an opportunity for me to commit to the ideas I had.
Tell us more about your perspective on functionality and intent.
Since I make functional furniture, it has to serve and own its design purpose in that way. Limitations and rules are big guides in my idea process. Like a piano—it has 88 keys, which ultimately has a huge influence on how you can create, be it within limit or building and expanding on variations.
Detail your process, from the inception of the idea for a piece through to the end.
There's a moment before I fully wake up when I think of things—and when that moment comes, I draw my ideas down with a pencil. I fine-tune things and see if through the computer rendering I have a workable design. I often return to zero and look at past work, and then through my library. There is also a bit of back and forth with clients sometimes before we arrive at the final design.
With my own collection, we all sit with it for a bit before fabricating the sample.
Can you tell us more about the “spirit of the studio,” and why “I waka waka waka” rings true to the work you’re making?
We want to do our best with every commission and with every piece that comes out of our shop, be it a chair from the collection or a piece of custom work. We’re all about exploration and growth and observation through that walk.
What keeps you inspired?
Everyday life. Connecting problem solving to design work. My family and friend-family, too. My books. Going back to Japan.
