Press Release
Golden A' Design Award in Furniture Design Goes to Tokyo Multifunctional Bench by Joao Teixeira
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Joao Teixeira for furniture design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 25, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Tokyo Multifunctional Bench by Joao Teixeira, designed for Oftwise, has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Furniture Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. 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 evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Golden A' Design Award
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
Regarding Tokyo Multifunctional Bench
Tokyo is a multifunctional bench designed for home entryways. Tokyo combines seating with a shoe rack, so footwear, bags and daily items can be stored within a small footprint. A curved top tray follows the line of the cushion and holds everyday objects. The bench is made of pressed FSC birch plywood with natural oak veneer, milled by CNC for precision and finished with non-toxic oils. The cushion is upholstered in recycled polyester. Tokyo ships flat packed and can be assembled by one person with ten screws.
About Joao Teixeira
Teixeira Design Studio is specialized in creating unique and multifunctional pieces of furniture that are both thoughtful and self explanatory. The studio believes that good design shouldn’t only look great but also improve the user experience. Every single product starts by understanding human behavior patterns and creating solutions that are convenient and easy to use. The Studio’s approach is all about looking at ordinary objects with new perspectives by adding interesting new ways of use that enhance productivity for the working from home scenario.
Award Record
Joao Teixeira is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards span the editions from 2020 - 2021 to 2025 - 2026 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
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. The competition 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. Entries typically include chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets and shelves. Awarded furniture designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/furniture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission 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. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated 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. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates 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, the upload of a work and the 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. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/181115
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/181115
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!181115
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/304169
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://oftwise.com
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
- Tokyo Multifunctional Bench
- Function
- Multifunctional Bench
- Category
- Furniture Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Linen, Peru, Rosy Brown, Silver and Sienna
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Oftwise
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Joao Teixeira
- Country
- Portugal
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #181115
Credits
- Image Credits
- Photographer Pedro Machado, Tokyo, 2025; Designer João Teixeira, Tokyo, 2025 Video Credits: Designer João Teixeira, Tokyo, 2025
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Tokyo’s most unique feature is the contrast between its visual lightness and functional versatility. The design pushes the boundaries of manufacturing, featuring curves engineered at the absolute radius limit. This precision creates a singular, flowing silhouette that is incredibly difficult for competitors to replicate. This sophisticated approach opens room for signature details such as its distinctive top tray.
- Inspiration
- Rooted in human behavior, Tokyo is inspired by the Japanese custom of removing shoes before entering homes, a habit that has become a global standard, especially post pandemic. This piece crosses cultural tradition with modern home needs, reimagining a daily object through an updated lens to suit fast paced lifestyles. Visually influenced by Japanese Torii gates, the design is distinguished by a balanced asymmetry where each component seamlessly flows with aesthetic and functional purpose.
- Research
- Research involved a behavioral study of urban dwellings with the goal of solving storage challenges in shrinking, high-cost living spaces through multifunctionality. Utilizing observational analysis, the methodology employed user interviews and journey mapping to understand daily routines. The resulting impact maximized utility within small footprints, effectively addressing the economic shift toward compact housing while enhancing social well-being through organized, stress-free environments.
- Challenge
- Beyond aesthetics, the hardest task was making a premium product truly affordable. This required simplifying the construction to keep it sturdy and long-lasting without driving up the price. Logistically, the project bridged manufacturers in Greece and Portugal. Coordinating these stages demanded rigorous precision and seamless remote communication to ensure the plywood and upholstery aligned perfectly. This process proved that cross-border collaboration can yield a refined, cost-effective result.
- Realization and Technology
- The design is manufactured from pressed FSC Birch Plywood with natural Oak veneer. After pressing, each component is CNC milled for precision. All wooden parts are finished with non-toxic oils. Chosen for its sturdiness, birch plywood ensures a long-lasting design that minimizes its eco-footprint. The cushion is upholstered in 100% recycled polyester, a high-performance and easy-to-clean fabric that ensures the bench remains inviting in high-traffic entryways.
- Operation and Interaction
- Tokyo offers an intuitive user experience through self explanatory functionality. Its thoughtful layout optimizes storage while providing the versatility for users to define their own use case scenarios. Whether organizing footwear, bags, or daily essentials, the design avoids prescriptive use. Instead, it adapts to the individual’s unique lifestyle and spatial needs, ensuring the product evolves with the user. The design nature motivate individuals for new and better habits.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in November 2023 in Viana do Castelo and finished in February 2025 in Viana do Castelo. It was exhibited in Funchal Biennial of Art and Design in Madeira in March 2025
- Specifications
- The assembled design has Width 945 mm x Depth 400 mm x Height 465 mm. The design ships in a flat pack format to improve logistics and can be assembled by a single person in less than 5 minutes by laying out all plywood components and cushion on the floor to connect them by driving a total of 10 screws.
- Keywords
- Multifunctional, Shoe Rack, Bench, Product Design, Furniture Design, Plywood Furniture
