At the moment, the best way we reside is evolving sooner than ever, with speedy developments in know-how, a rising concentrate on sustainability, and shifting existence reshaping how we design our areas and work together with the objects round us. It’s by no means been extra essential to think about how design can adapt to those fast-moving adjustments.
Recognizing this, Karimoku Furnishings, Japan’s main wood furnishings producer with over 80 years of workmanship, has launched Karimoku Analysis. This forward-thinking initiative seeks to discover new methods of residing by surveying, archiving, and innovating how folks reside. By way of collaborations with international creatives, Karimoku Analysis reimagines the position of design in on a regular basis life. With the opening of the Karimoku Analysis Heart in Tokyo, the model blends its wealthy woodworking heritage with recent, boundary-pushing concepts to spark dialogue and create significant designs for the long run.
The debut survey, Survey 00: WOOD, highlights Karimoku Analysis’s dedication to rethinking the position of wooden in modern design and sustainability. Curated in collaboration with Copenhagen- and Singapore-based design studio Christian+Jade, The Age of Wooden exhibition builds on their earlier exploration of wooden’s materiality, first showcased throughout 3daysofdesign 2023. Increasing their analysis to Japanese forests, Christian+Jade current a sequence of inventive objects and sculptures that commemorate the sweetness, variety, and getting older technique of Japanese wooden. By way of the show of varied wooden specimens in numerous phases of weathering, the exhibition invitations guests to mirror on time, transformation, and the evolving relationship between people and pure supplies.
“The forest bears witness. To a time earlier than us, stretching right into a future past us. The tree grows in layers round useless cells of heartwood, their construction and spine-it stands on the shoulders of yesterday. In an period the place many people are dropping entry to or pining for a extra significant connection to nature, The Age of Wooden seeks to analyze concepts of age, time, and patina within the context of Japanese woodland. Alongside Karimoku, Christian+Jade chisel out a brand new imaginative and prescient for timelessness, as human beings, stewards, and formgivers.” – Christian+Jade
“On this library of timber, you’ll meet 63 distinctive species, gathered by Karimoku from Japan’s various landscapes. Every tray holds a chunk of their story – a leaf, a seed, and part of their physique. All introductions to quite a lot of totally different characters and personalities that can remodel the best way you see wooden and its timber.” – Christian+Jade
The exhibition was hosted on the new Karimoku Analysis Heart, a dynamic house designed by Tokyo-based architect Keiji Ashizawa to foster exploration and collaboration. Housed in a renovated three-story constructing in Tokyo, the middle is thoughtfully divided into distinct areas, every with a novel goal. The primary flooring, generally known as ‘The Archive,’ capabilities as a gallery house for exhibitions like The Age of Wooden. The second flooring options the ‘Supplies Lab,’ a hands-on house for seminars and workshops the place guests can discover materials samples. Lastly, the third flooring, known as ‘The Examine,’ is devoted to in-depth discussions and ideation. With these areas, the Karimoku Analysis Heart gives an immersive expertise that invitations guests to have interaction with prototypes, supplies, and design ideas.
Wanting forward, Karimoku Analysis will proceed its mission of artistic exploration, with upcoming collaborations that includes Los Angeles-based studio Waka Waka and New York Metropolis’s Lichen.
“The folding display screen traces this story throughout historic occasions to the early Edo interval, by way of the Meiji period, and into trendy and modern intervals, introducing key occasions that characterize every period whereas highlighting six varieties of wooden which have performed distinguished roles all through time.” – Christian+Jade
Christian Hammer Juhl and Jade Chan of Christian+Jade
Christian Hammer Juhl and Jade Chan of Christian+Jade
To study extra concerning the January 2025 exhibitions and past, go to karimoku-research.com.
