Flower Stool by Yuko Inamine is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award in Furniture Design Competition Category.
IronFurniture· 2023
Flower Stool
by Yuko Inamine
Client: Yuko Inamine
A' Design Award Winner in Furniture Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #148811The Design
About Flower Stool
Make their lifestyle fun and convenient with a stool that can be rotated to change its purpose. Rotate to use as a stool, or use as a side table, magazine rack or stackable shelf. The side of the flower is a laminated plywood pattern using original colorful paper. Along with the performance that makes people to rotate, it also entertains children visually. It can change how to use it according to child's growth and lifestyle, so it can spend a long time with them.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award
Flower Stool is an Iron A' Design Award winner, a prestigious recognition granted to good designs that meet the professional and industrial requirements expected from well-designed creations. Iron winners demonstrate great skill, high specialization, expert understanding, and creative capacity of their creators. Flower Stool is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished creation that is practical and innovative. This Iron A' Design Award-winning design integrates industry best practices and has competent technical characteristics linked with know-how and talent. Flower Stool is respected for its thoroughness and is designed to provide quality of life improvements that help make the world a better place.
Interviews
Design Interview
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
What I wanted to achieve most was the functionality that one item has. Since Japanese houses are not large, products with different functions have existed for a long time.
I wanted to use it for a long time, so I thought that I could prevent fading by making plywood using colored paper instead of painting the surface colorfully.
Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
This piece was not commissioned, but was created as a personal piece. It is a work that incorporates my values, visual appeal, and functional appeal. I made it to reconfirm my sense of values.
How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
The name "Flower" comes specifically from the shape of the piece. When you display a lot of these stools, it looks like a flower garden. I gave it this name because I wanted to give it the image of taking one wheel home from there.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The colorful stripes on the sides of the flowers are original plywood made from colored paper. Visually pleasing to children and very effective in inducing rotational movement. Also, by rotating it, it can be used not only as a stool, but also as a side table, magazine rack, etc. It is a product whose functions can be changed according to changes in lifestyle.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 350mm×350mm×400mm
Plywood: veneer, colorful paper
Technology: laminated plywood, molded plywood - Tags
- plywood, stool, side table, magazine rack, flower,
- Production Technology
- For the seat surface, we made the seat surface from original molded plywood considering the movement and safety of the child and the need for a curved surface. It's safe and comfortable to sit on.
The other is beautiful multicolored laminated plywood. The beautiful stripes of pink, blue, and wood are an original design that combines wood and colored paper. - Design Challenge
- First is the seat. Considering the movement and safety of children, I felt the need for a curved surface. From there, we created a safe and comfortable organic seating surface with original molded plywood.
The other is beautiful multicolored laminated plywood. A colorful combination of wood and colored paper. By applying urethane coating, the weakness of paper, which is weak against water, has been greatly improved. The beautiful stripes of pink and blue wood are the result of material research. - Research
- My research topic is woodworking technology including plywood. In order to expand the possibilities and appeal of plywood, we made colorful original plywood using colored paper. I think that the colorful stripes on the cross section have the potential to bring out the characteristics and colors of plywood. The other is an original molded plywood that aims for a gentle sitting comfort. The U-shaped molding realizes a curved surface that is safe for children to touch. I made one product out of two pieces of plywood.
- Inspiration
- I believe that we will change from an era of mass production and mass consumption to an era of sticking to one product for a long time. I wanted to create a product that blends into our lives from various angles with a single item in line with the changing times. It also supports children's curiosity by allowing them to select and read books in one step. You can use it for a long time because it can be used according to your lifestyle.
- Project Duration
- The project started in April 2022 and finished in February 2023 in Japan.
- Operation Flow
- It becomes a small stool just by rolling it from the magazine rack that stores picture books.
By minimizing the act of reading books because they want to read, we made it possible for children to enjoy reading.
It can also be used as a child's educational toy by rolling it over as a shelf or side table. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Yuko Inamine, 2023.
- Image Credits
- #1: Photographer :Yuko Inamine, Flowers,2023.
#2: Photographer :Yuko Inamine, Flowers,2023.
#3: Photographer :Yuko Inamine, Flowers,2023
#4: Photographer :Yuko Inamine, Flowers,2023 model:Yuko Inamine(designer)
#5: Photographer :Yuko Inamine, Flowers,2023
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