Press Release
Strings Stool by Yuna Yamashiro Receives the Bronze A' Design Award in Furniture Design
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Yuna Yamashiro for furniture design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 25, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Furniture Design category for Strings Stool by Yuna Yamashiro. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Bronze A' Design Award Explained
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Strings Stool
This stool draws inspiration from the sanshin, a traditional stringed instrument from Okinawa, Japan. Its warmth and string tension are expressed through natural wood, smooth curves, and tightly stretched cords. Cords across the seat allow everyday items to be clamped in place, creating moments of joy and comfort while evoking the presence and daily life of the user. Made using molded plywood, the stool achieves a smooth curve from legs to seat with layered wood ensuring strength, bringing warmth and gentle stimulation into daily living.
About Yuna Yamashiro
Yuna Yamashiro is a designer based in Okinawa, Japan. She creates products informed by Japan’s nature and cultural context. Working primarily with wood, her practice explores material qualities and structural expression. Her process involves observation, material experimentation, and iterative prototyping, with attention to how users interact with objects in everyday settings. Her work focuses on integrating elements of Okinawan nature and culture into contemporary living environments, with an emphasis on accessibility across different contexts. Through her practice, she contributes to the circulation of regional perspectives within a global design landscape.
Award Record
With this recognition, Yuna Yamashiro is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Furniture Design Award
The A' Furniture Design Award is an international furniture competition recognizing good furniture designs by best furniture designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to furniture designers, product designers, industrial design studios and furniture brands from all countries. Typical entries include chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets and shelves. The awarded furniture designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/furniture
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/179268
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/179268
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!179268
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/375810
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Strings Stool
- Function
- Stool
- Category
- Furniture Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Dark Khaki, Wheat, Tan, Peru and Navajo White
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yuna Yamashiro
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #179268
Credits
- Image Credits
- Yuna Yamashiro, Hiroto Nakamura, 2025.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Okinawa's traditional sensibilities spread worldwide, exploring new design approaches that blend seamlessly into modern living. As an island nation, Okinawa has developed its own distinct culture. The sanshin possesses a uniquely warm tone and form found only in Okinawa. This stool incorporates these elements into its design.This stool is designed to integrate into everyday life. Such cross-cultural sensibilities will become a presence that brings stimulation to everyday life.
- Inspiration
- This stool draws inspiration from the Sanshin, Okinawa's traditional musical instrument. Its design incorporates the warm resonance produced by the sanshin's sound and the beauty of tension and harmony inherent in its stringed structure. Just as the Sanshin has been a constant companion in daily life in Okinawa, existing as a warm memory, This stool was designed to quietly receive moments of time and presence in everyday life, becoming an object that lingers in memory.
- Research
- Okinawa's traditional sensibilities spread worldwide, exploring of new design approaches that harmonize with contemporary living.As an island nation, Okinawa has developed its own distinct culture. The sanshin possesses a uniquely warm tone and form found only in Okinawa. In this stool, those elements are incorporated into the design through form, texture, and the experience of use. Such cross-cultural sensibilities will become a presence that brings stimulation to everyday life.
- Challenge
- To bend wood using pressure, I created a mold. For clean bending, the wood must adhere tightly to the mold. Finding the right pressure application proved challenging one that ensures the wood stays firmly pressed against the mold while maintaining stability until the shape is fully set.
- Realization and Technology
- The manufacturing process utilizes molded plywood, achieving gentle curves by applying pressure to bend the wood. The structure draws inspiration from the tension and stringing seen in Okinawan sanshin instruments, employing a multi-layered wood construction that ensures visual lightness while maintaining sufficient stability. Wood is carefully selected and utilized to convey the warmth and natural atmosphere of Okinawa.
- Operation and Interaction
- Users can temporarily hold daily necessities and personal items by slipping them between the cords. Slipping favorite items into this stool can lift your spirits, while slipping in mementos can provide emotional comfort. The cords are also replaceable, allowing users to customize the color to match their preferences or room decor. The central opening in the seat is designed to fit the body comfortably, enhancing seating comfort, while the trapezoidal outward-spreading legs enable efficient stacking. This allows the stool to naturally blend into everyday life.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in June 2025 in Okinawa and finished in September 2025 in Okinawa.
- Specifications
- Width 500mm x Depth 300mm x Height 450mm
- Keywords
- Design, Stool, Chair, Furniture, Furniture Design, Wood, Strings
