Gold Furniture Design · 2026
Oruha Chair
- A' Design Award 2026 Gold Winner in Furniture Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Yedit
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 3,791,003
- Verification code E0361E11FB · Verify this award
About Oruha Chair
The design presents a seat conceived as a public secret base, offering personal refuge within shared environments. Its structure balances sculptural presence with functional comfort, supporting extended use and social interaction. Curved surfaces and carefully proportioned elements create a sense of enclosure while maintaining openness. Natural finishes enhance durability, ease of maintenance, and graceful aging, allowing the piece to integrate into everyday living spaces while preserving tactile warmth.
Yuya Nakazawa's Oruha Chair emerges from a rich tradition of sculptural furniture making that bridges Eastern and Western approaches to organic form, demonstrating how contemporary designers continue to find fresh expression within established material and formal vocabularies. The work exhibits remarkable technical accomplishment in its continuous armrest and backrest assembly, where two laminated wooden bands flow in graceful parallel curves that evoke both the protective gesture of embracing arms and the structural elegance of natural growth patterns found in branches and vines. This upper framework demonstrates the designer's sophisticated understanding of wood behavior, with cross-sections that swell where forces concentrate and taper where structural demands diminish, suggesting an almost intuitive dialogue between maker and material. The joinery visible in the small rectangular pegs connecting the twin rails speaks to traditional woodworking methods while serving as subtle decorative accents that punctuate the pale maple surface with measured rhythm. The introduction of a walnut seat creates a compelling tonal dialogue, the warm brown surface functioning as both visual anchor and material counterpoint that enriches the otherwise monochromatic palette. This chromatic contrast may reference traditional furniture-making practices where different woods were combined for structural performance as well as aesthetic variety, acknowledging that beauty often emerges from practical necessity. The chair's four legs exhibit the organic vocabulary consistent throughout the design, their gentle splay providing stability while their tapered profiles maintain visual lightness. The supporting struts connecting rear legs to backrest demonstrate particularly refined shaping, their curves suggesting natural branching that transforms structural necessity into expressive opportunity. One might observe how the overall composition invites contemplation of the relationship between support and shelter, between the functional requirements of seating and the emotional resonance of being held. The viewer is encouraged to consider how exceptional craftsmanship can transform utilitarian objects into meditations on material, form, and human comfort.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Oruha Chair proposes the idea of a private sanctuary within a public space.
While functioning as a sculptural object that shapes the surrounding environment, the chair transforms into an intimate personal zone when occupied.
The form could not have been achieved through linear or parametric design logic. Instead, it emerged through an iterative process of continuous adjustment between visual intensity and physical comfort. The armrests, which receive the most direct contact, maintain sharp visual edges while offering a gentle and secure tactile experience.
This balance allows the chair to exist simultaneously as spatial sculpture and functional furniture. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Width 740mm Depth 550mm Height 760mm Seated height 430mm
- Tags
- Chair, Furniture, Sculptural Design, Wood, Handmade, Emotional Design, Armchair, Spatial Object
- Production Technology
- Due to its complex organic geometry, Oruha Chair is extremely difficult to reproduce through industrial manufacturing or automated processes.
The chair was realized almost entirely by hand, using traditional Japanese planes and hand tools.
Rather than imposing a fixed form onto the material, the final shape emerged through direct dialogue with the wood, prioritizing tactile quality, structural integrity, and sculptural coherence. This process positions craftsmanship not as decoration, but as a design methodology. - Design Challenge
- After extensive sketching and the creation of five clay models, translating the form into wood presented a fundamental challenge. There was no established woodworking methodology capable of directly realizing the intended geometry.
Through repeated trial and error, two full-scale prototypes were abandoned before completing this third iteration.
Because of the organic form, conventional symmetry, reference points, and measurement systems proved ineffective. Ultimately, the process required trusting sensory judgment and material feedback over numerical precision. This approach became inseparable from the final outcome. - Project Duration
- The project began in Kanagawa in January 2025 and ended in October 2025.
- Operation Flow
- Despite its expressive form, Oruha Chair provides stable and comfortable seating suitable for extended use.
Structural stability and load distribution were carefully examined through repeated physical testing, ensuring that the sculptural design does not compromise safety or usability.
Unlike many sculptural chairs that discourage everyday use, Oruha Chair is intended to be touched, sat on, and lived with. - Research
- The designer’s background in video editing strongly influenced the conceptual framework of this project. Video editing is a practice of shaping emotional perception by controlling sequence, rhythm, and context.
Oruha Chair applies this editorial thinking to three-dimensional form.
Personal emotions and experiences were deconstructed and reassembled, not as narrative, but as physical tension, curvature, and spatial presence. The result is a chair that communicates emotionally through form rather than explanation. - Inspiration
- Oruha Chair was inspired by the concept of waves, representing continuous transitions between tension and release.
Rather than designing a chair solely from ergonomic data or predefined typologies, this project approaches seating as an emotional and spatial experience shaped by contrast.
The form was developed as a response to the designer’s belief that emotions, like waves, can be edited, reorganized, and translated into physical presence. These transitions were carved directly into solid wood as flowing yet controlled organic curves.
Although the chair presents an edgy, sculptural appearance, sitting in it reveals a smooth, enveloping comfort. This intentional reversal between visual tension and bodily softness defines the core experience of Oruha Chair. - Image Credits
- Photography: Photographer Mitsuaki Takahashi, 2025
Video credit: Video editor Yuya Nakazawa, 2025
Sound: Soundtrack Composer Heitaro Ashibe, 2025
Colors of Oruha Chair
Design Interview about Oruha Chair
ORUHA is built on the idea of eliminating contradictions between structure, usability, and perception.
I wanted the form to feel inevitable—something that could only exist in this exact configuration.
The inspiration came from accumulated experience, cultural context, and the tension between precision and intuition.
I wanted the form to feel inevitable—something that could only exist in this exact configuration.
The inspiration came from accumulated experience, cultural context, and the tension between precision and intuition.
My focus was to create a chair that stands on its own without explanation.
I aimed for structural clarity, visual tension, and a form that influences how a person perceives and behaves in space.
I aimed for structural clarity, visual tension, and a form that influences how a person perceives and behaves in space.
I plan to expand ORUHA into a series and explore variations that deepen the relationship between structure and presence.
I also intend to exhibit it internationally to test how it behaves in different cultural contexts.
I also intend to exhibit it internationally to test how it behaves in different cultural contexts.
It took about a year, including rough sketches, clay models, and the creation of multiple full-scale prototypes.
I remade it many times until there was no room for further improvement.
I remade it many times until there was no room for further improvement.
It was self-initiated.
I could not find a chair that satisfied my own standards, so I created one that resolved the contradictions I felt.
I could not find a chair that satisfied my own standards, so I created one that resolved the contradictions I felt.
I produce the work myself.
I collaborate with companies only when the design intent can be preserved through execution.
I collaborate with companies only when the design intent can be preserved through execution.
I am drawn to objects that directly engage the human body.
Chairs require structure, usability, and presence to coexist, making them the most challenging and meaningful objects to design.
Chairs require structure, usability, and presence to coexist, making them the most challenging and meaningful objects to design.
Hans J. Wegner’s body of work is a major reference point—especially the clarity between structure and the human body.
I am also influenced by a veteran craftsman I worked with, whose decision-making deeply shaped my approach.
I am also influenced by a veteran craftsman I worked with, whose decision-making deeply shaped my approach.
People who value structural honesty, tactile materials, and long-lasting objects.
Those who seek furniture that communicates through form rather than explanation.
Those who seek furniture that communicates through form rather than explanation.
Every line carries both structural and visual meaning.
There is no decoration, no excess—only decisions that resolve necessity and perception simultaneously.
There is no decoration, no excess—only decisions that resolve necessity and perception simultaneously.
“ORUHA” combines two Japanese ideas:
“ORU,” to weave, and “HA,” waves.
It reflects how the waves of one’s life—memory, experience, and emotion—are woven into form.
This chair is the physical expression of my own accumulated journey.
“ORU,” to weave, and “HA,” waves.
It reflects how the waves of one’s life—memory, experience, and emotion—are woven into form.
This chair is the physical expression of my own accumulated journey.
Hand tools, woodworking machinery, and clay for modeling.
I rely on physical prototyping rather than digital tools to test ideas directly.
I rely on physical prototyping rather than digital tools to test ideas directly.
The balance between structural clarity and visual tension.
It appears simple at first glance, but the form is the result of countless decisions and refinements.
It appears simple at first glance, but the form is the result of countless decisions and refinements.
I worked primarily alone to maintain consistency.
However, the foundation of my approach comes from years of learning alongside skilled craftsmen.
However, the foundation of my approach comes from years of learning alongside skilled craftsmen.
Technology increases precision, but it does not replace judgment.
The final form is shaped by human decisions, not by tools.
The final form is shaped by human decisions, not by tools.
Yes.
I conducted structural tests through repeated prototyping and observed how small changes affected usability and perception.
Travel and cultural exposure also informed my understanding of context.
I conducted structural tests through repeated prototyping and observed how small changes affected usability and perception.
Travel and cultural exposure also informed my understanding of context.
Resolving small inconsistencies that disrupted the flow of the structure.
These issues are often invisible to others but critical to the final form.
These issues are often invisible to others but critical to the final form.
I wanted to test whether my own standards held value outside my personal environment.
External evaluation helps refine my criteria.
External evaluation helps refine my criteria.
This work is my first independent creation.
Through it, I learned that my physical and intuitive sense of form was not mistaken.
Before reaching this point, no one expected anything from me—but that absence of expectation allowed me to define my own standards without compromise.
Through it, I learned that my physical and intuitive sense of form was not mistaken.
Before reaching this point, no one expected anything from me—but that absence of expectation allowed me to define my own standards without compromise.
Design is never isolated.
Every object carries context, history, and accumulated decisions.
My goal is to create forms that remain meaningful beyond trends and time.
Every object carries context, history, and accumulated decisions.
My goal is to create forms that remain meaningful beyond trends and time.
Grand Interview about Oruha Chair
I realized that this paradox would become the emotional core of the Oruha Chair only after the piece was completed. During the making process, my mind was occupied with very simple intentions: to create something beautiful, and to create a chair that could be sat in comfortably for a long time. I was not consciously trying to create a contradiction.But when I finally sat in the completed chair, the sharp visual tension and the unexpectedly gentle embrace of the body reacted with each other—almost like a chemical reaction. Only then did I understand that this contrast was not an accident, but a defining emotional feature of the work.Looking back, I believe the seed of this paradox was already present in the clay model stage, working unconsciously. The coexistence of visual sharpness and tactile softness transforms the chair from an object into an experience. That realization came only after the making was over.
Oruha is carved almost entirely with hand tools. This is not simply a production method—it is a question posed to contemporary furniture design. In an era dominated by mass production, carving by hand appears inefficient. Yet the process of touching the material, responding to it, and searching for the form through physical negotiation creates a density of judgment that digital tools cannot replicate.Oruha suggests to the digital-native generation of designers thatform is not born only from calculation, but also from touch, intuition, and emotion.Analog craftsmanship is not a nostalgic technique; it is a sensory interface that reveals possibilities beyond digital logic.
Oruha was conceived as a piece of furniture that creates a moment of personal rest within shared or public spaces. Public spaces are open by nature, yet this openness often leaves individual emotions unprotected. The enveloping comfort and sculptural presence of Oruha create a small boundary within the space—a temporary sanctuary of quiet.This idea encourages architects and interior designers to reconsider furniture not only as functional equipment but as something that can shape the emotional atmosphere of a space. A single chair can change how a person relates to their surroundings. Oruha is a proposal for that shift.
I worked for many years as a video editor. Editing is the act of arranging fragments of time to create rhythm, tension, and emotional perception. This editorial way of thinking deeply influenced the form of Oruha.The continuity of curves, the sharpness of edges, the way light touches the surfaces, and the flow of the viewer’s gaze—all of these were composed with an awareness of rhythm and temporal experience.Although it is a chair, I designed it as if it were a sequence of visual moments. The tension and release within the form reflect the sensibilities I cultivated through editing.
I discarded two full-scale prototypes during the development of Oruha. The reason was simple: the forms created through numerical design did not align with the sensory reality of the human body. Numbers are useful, but they cannot capture the subtle reactions of the body.By placing tactile intuition at the center, I came to understand that design is not the act of drawing a correct answer, but the act of adjusting the dialogue between material and body.Craftsmanship is not merely a finishing technique—it can become the design method itself. This was one of the most important discoveries Oruha gave me.
The making of Oruha required months of physical negotiation with the wood. In woodworking, once material is removed, it never returns. This demands a rhythm of carving a little, observing, and sometimes carving boldly.Certain areas—such as the tips of the backrest and the ends of the armrests—are structurally thin. Their final thickness was not determined by my intention alone, but by what the wood allowed. Through touch, I could sense the limit.There was a moment when the form no longer felt like something I was imposing, but something the wood itself was revealing. That shift—from conscious decision to material-guided decision—is where the inevitability of Oruha’s form was born.
Receiving the A’ Design Award Gold positioned Oruha within an international context of recognized innovation and craftsmanship. For me, this recognition brings a new sense of responsibility and motivation.I want to deepen the intersection of sculpture, emotion, and spatial thinking, and explore proposals that go beyond the conventional boundaries of furniture. The recognition of Oruha strengthened my belief thatform has the ability to carry and transmit emotional experience.From here, I hope to expand toward creating spatial experiences that support human life more gently and meaningfully.
Oruha began with the metaphor of waves—movement, transition, and emotional fluctuation. The question was whether these intangible qualities could be held within a physical form.Now, when I look at the completed chair, I feel that form can indeed become a vessel for emotion. The sense of calm when touching it, the visual tension, the quietness when sitting—these are all evidence that form can influence the inner state of a person.Oruha suggests that objects have the potential to act upon our emotional landscape.
The armrests are where the philosophy of Oruha is most concentrated. They needed to maintain a visually sharp and assertive edge while offering a gentle, secure tactile experience at the point of contact.I refined the angle of the edges, the spread of the surfaces, and the way the fingers settle into the form—repeatedly carving and adjusting until all tactile discomfort disappeared. Through this process, I learned thatvisual language and haptic experience are not separate, but complementary.I was also inspired by the design of game controllers. The areas frequently touched are smooth and low-resistance, while untouched areas can be surprisingly angular. They are designed for long-term use with remarkable sophistication. I applied the same philosophy to the armrests, seeking a balance between visual clarity and tactile comfort.
The central challenge in developing Oruha was to unify sculptural freedom with the physical reliability required of a chair—without allowing one to compromise the other. I approached the piece not by separating structure and form, but by designing them as a single continuous flow that follows both the movement of the body and the logic of the material.The line of the spine, the angle of the pelvis, the way pressure disperses—these were determined not by numbers, but by the feedback of the body and the hand. Through multiple prototypes, I tested and refined the form until its complexity supported comfort rather than opposing it.In the end, I came to believe that sculptural expression and ergonomics are not opposing forces. They can arise from the same root and enhance each other. When the flow of the form aligns with the flow of the body, a chair becomes more than a functional object—it becomes an emotional place to inhabit. Oruha is one answer to that possibility.