Interviews with Mate Meszaros

We have over 10 years of experience combined in the architecture and furniture design field. We both have worked for internationally well know architecture offices.

We both studied different forms of art before becoming architects, although before enrolling university we both choose a more “rational” form of art pursuing our studies as architects further. During our university years our major interest were architecture and furniture design.

In general we like to work with a lot of physical models or 3D printed pieces besides sketches before we would have a detailed 3d model of the furniture we work on. In our experience this process helps us exploring the full potential of our ideas, not having a feeling of being "done" too soon.

Curiosity might be the most important thing shaped us as designers. Exploring sometimes completely unrelated topics could result major breakthroughs in our projects, parallels can be drawn between many seemingly distinct fields.

Learning something new every day from different craftsmen and manufacturers shapes our thinking every day.

We would like to reach and improve the lives of as many people as possible with our products design at our firm Tatamu.

As architects and furniture designers we design buildings from urban scale to pavilions, usually paying the utmost attention to detail until the last door handle.

We prefer projects that have the most impact on lives of people in need. Social housing or cultural spaces would be a good example with all the furniture included.

We don’t really have a usual daily routine, for a period of weeks we can wake up early thinking about new ideas from the morning, while on other weeks we work until the morning.

After the very first look at a design one’s have a generic feeling about the object. After more detailed inspection, of usability, materiality and aesthetics usually this first impression proves right.

Dieter Rams and Sugimoto Hirosi

Small apartments, narrow offices, tiny shops; urban space is a vanishing, precious commodity. By 2050 two thirds of the earth’s population will live in cities. We have to fit increasingly more activities in a shrinking physical space. The main inspiration behind Tatamu are mobile and creative people like us, whose ideas are bigger than their room. We also found that moving in and out of tiny city apartments often involves the disposal of old furniture, since transportation is very costly; we need light, deployable, reusable furniture that is a joy to use.

When we started designing the Tatamu stool, we aimed to create furniture that combines robustness with an ultra-thin and lightweight material, while being intuitive to use. It takes only one twisting movement to deploy the chair. We wanted to keep the design as simple as possible, so there are only two materials: wood and fabric. The hinges made of specially manufactured durable fabric keep it light weight, while the wooden origami faces provide stability. Once pressure is applied to it, the stool only gets stronger as the faces lock in together in perfect mechanical balance.

The Tatamu stool is the first furniture in a series of furniture answering to people needs with limited spaces.

The design of the Tatamu Stool started in June 2019 with paper models and 3d modelling and we finalized the last prototype in January 2020.

Our personal inspiration to design the Tatamu stool came from living, working and socializing in tiny, vibrant, multi-functional spaces; our dream is to distill Tokyo urban lifestyle into everyday, functional and beautiful furniture. Furniture that adapts to, reacts to and interacts with our increasingly mobile lives.

Our furniture is being manufactured by Penfold - a traditional Japanese furniture manufacturer. We intend to sell our furniture ourselves.

The Tatamu Stool is using unique solutions in its details, these joints can be used in the future for later designs. The folded form of the chair is getting more stable as more pressure is applied to it, so we would like to investigate the usage of this mechanism in construction technologies, as well. When relocating, TATAMU moves with you; reducing the cost, time and stress of moving out. Over 258 million tons of furniture end up in landfills every year, only in the United States.

Tatamu means folding, putting away in Japanese, describing our idea perfectly.

Besides sketches and physical models, we used Grasshopper and Rhino to simulate the working mechanism of the stool.

The Tatamu stool will fold down to fit anywhere, and its triangular shape with only 4cm thickness allows it to fit even in the narrowest of apartment arrangements when deployed.

We always design our furniture together and we are always looking for different craftsmen and other creative thinkers to cooperate.

We used Grasshopper to simulate the working mechanism of the stool; the main load bearing axes have to work as hinges as well, so our research objective was to determine how to reach a stable state while retaining flexibility. The folded form of the chair is getting more stable as more pressure is applied to it, so we would like to investigate the usage of this mechanism in construction technologies, as well.

The greatest challenge throughout the design and research process, was to find a balance between structural strength and foldability. Modelling the mechanism of the chair in 3D has limited capabilities, so we had to work closely with the manufacturer in order to reach the desired result. After many detail tests and five distinct functional prototypes, we could manage to make the foldable stool easily operable, while retaining its strength.

We both studied different forms of art before becoming architects, although before enrolling university we both choose a more “rational” form of art pursuing our studies as architects further. During our university years our major interest were architecture and furniture design.

Creating something from the very beginning to the end, after completion seeing the users interact with it really makes work become a profession.

As architects and furniture designers we design buildings from urban scale to pavilions, usually paying the utmost attention to detail until the last door handle.

We prefer projects that have the most impact on lives of people in need. Social housing or cultural spaces would be a good example with all the furniture included.

As young designers ourselves we can answer this question a later time.

A good design can still be arbitrary, while every last detail of a great design serves a purpose.

Good design significantly improves the quality of life for every layer of society.

Good design should also be affordable to it’s main audience, so definitely worth the investment.

Social projects are always the most interesting and challenging.

Space facilities would be an interesting challenge.

Not being afraid of making radical changes at any stage of the project.

Dieter Rams and Sugimoto Hirosi

The very first iPod; in the history of industrial design that product had the biggest positive impact on peoples life so far probably.

We are interested in flexibility, to let our designs change with the needs of people. I think we are looking for this aspect throughout all of our design pieces.

Learn something new every day and always widen your perspective.

Life always have unexpected turns so we could have become anything from a professional water polo player to an astronaut.

Design is always a process of providing different solutions to needs or insights.

As young designers we are still looking forward to reach “these heights”.

Being challenged every day is probably the most important part of being a designer so constant obstacles are actually something you could always learn from.

Besides communicating the main idea of our firm, each project should be represented at the highest level possible, in a unique way adapting to the projects main message.

Our main point of interest recently is to improve the lives of people living in limited spaces, around this topic we are developing different ideas.

To reach as many people as possible with our ideas.

To have the most positive impact on peoples life, we aim to give the most simplistic answer to their specific needs at an affordable price.

The Tatamu stool taught us a lot about cooperating closely with the manufacturers.

It's impressive folding method always brings excitement of peoples faces.

It would be great if good designs could reach a wider audience, reaching people really in need of improvement.

We always look forward to see different visions from different designers. Probably newly arising technologies will have a major impact on the field.

It always depends on the specific project, usually ranging from a couple of months to a couple of years.

Every project starts with an extensive research phase to allow a deep understanding of the topic.

Several overnight days don't really pay off in the end, time management is key.

It’s a recursive process so vice-versa.

We are always open to try new methods that technology offers to support us.

Usually we use Rhino, V-ray and Grasshopper with the Adobe software for furniture design, for architectural projects we also work with Revit. Besides sketching of course we started to explore the advantages of 3D printing.

Materiality is at the core of our projects, choosing the right material brings out the essence of our ideas.

We are always happy to answer any questions.

Why didn’t we think about this earlier.

We always design our furniture together and we are always looking for different craftsmen and other creative thinkers to cooperate.

The insights of different manufacturers are always valuable, in terms of ideas we usually learn from and influence each other.

Reading about completely unrelated topics could result major breakthroughs in our projects, parallels can be drawn between many seemingly distinct fields.

We have over 10 years of experience combined in the architecture and furniture design field. Each unique project teaches us something new, widening our perspective leading to new ideas.

We both live in the always moving city of Tokyo, every person, place, food and color we encounter during our days inspire us to come up with new ideas reacting to this constantly changing environment.

Happy to talk about our products and ideas any time, so get in touch.

We both studied different forms of art before becoming architects, although before enrolling university we both choose a more “rational” form of art pursuing our studies as architects further. During our university years our major interest were architecture and furniture design.

We are Tokyo-based architects, furniture designers. At Tatamu we would like to bring a flexible and sustainable alternative to people whose space is limited and moving places frequently. Small apartments, narrow offices, tiny shops; urban space is a vanishing, precious commodity. By 2050 two thirds of the earth’s population will live in cities. We have to fit increasingly more activities in a shrinking physical space. The main inspiration behind Tatamu are mobile and creative people like us, whose ideas are bigger than their room. We also found that moving in and out of tiny city apartments often involves the disposal of old furniture, since transportation is very costly; we need light, deployable, reusable furniture that is a joy to use.

Design is always a process of providing different solutions to needs or insights.

As architects and furniture designers we design buildings from urban scale to pavilions, usually paying the utmost attention to detail until the last door handle.

We prefer projects that have the most impact on lives of people in need. Social housing or cultural spaces would be a good example with all the furniture included.

The very first iPod; in the history of industrial design that product had the biggest positive impact on peoples life so far probably.

As architects and furniture designers we usually have private clients, the closest thing we designed for an actual company might be a scenery for a small artist theatre in Budapest.

Materiality is always at the core of any design idea we work on, each project is unique and requires a different solution. We are constantly on the look for new platforms and technologies to support our products.

Inspiration can come any time during the day not necessarily during working hours, being under the shower or during a drink with friends.

During any of our projects we focus on delivering our idea in its clearest form, while we pay utmost attention to every detail as well.

Seeing the users interacting with any of our finished design is empowering.

A successful design answers people’s specific needs at an affordable price.

After the very first look at a design one’s have a generic feeling about the object. After more detailed inspection, of usability, materiality and aesthetics usually this first impression proves right.

As designers we have the possibility to significantly improve the quality of life for every layer of society while protecting the environment with sustainable, but affordable solutions.

We always look forward to see different visions from different designers. Probably newly arising technologies will have a major impact on the field.

We designed experimental furniture for a traditional Japanese fabric manufacturer, these pieces were exhibited at their 100 years old factory to show the contrast between new and old.

As winners we are looking forward to the A’ Design Award Exhibition this year.

We have learned to live, work and socialize in tiny, vibrant, multi-functional spaces; our dream is to distill Tokyo urban lifestyle into everyday, functional and beautiful furniture. Furniture that adapts to, reacts to and interacts with our increasingly mobile lives.

We aim not have a certain “style” categorizing our design, not to limit ourselves from exploring new fields and ideas. Our approach to design starts with finding an interesting, unique problem that we aim to solve by a simple, elegant solution.

Each company is unique, requiring a different kind of presentation and communication. We hope to think that being flexible, listening to their specific needs is one of our great advantages.

Giving more opportunities to young, undiscovered designers can be of great benefit for both parties. Assigning projects to winners of public, anonymous competitions could have a positive impact on the quality of designs.

In general we like to work with a lot of physical models or 3D printed pieces besides sketches before we would have a detailed 3d model of the furniture we work on. In our experience this process helps us exploring the full potential of our ideas, not having a feeling of being "done" too soon.

Our homes are full of prototypes of previous projects, transforming our apartments to a playground for designers.

We don’t really have a usual daily routine, for a period of weeks we can wake up early thinking about new ideas from the morning, while on other weeks we work until the morning.

Learn something new every day and always widen your perspective.

Several overnight days don’t really pay off in the end, time management is key.

Usually we use Rhino, V-ray and Grasshopper with the Adobe software for furniture design, for architectural projects we also work with Revit. Besides sketching of course we started to explore the advantages of 3D printing.

It always depends on the specific project, usually ranging from a couple of months to a couple of years.

Social projects are always the most interesting and challenging.

We always design our furniture together and we are always looking for different craftsmen and other creative thinkers to cooperate.

Our main point of interest recently is to improve the lives of people living in limited spaces, around this topic we are developing different ideas.

We just launched our new website: http://tatamustudio.com

Keep in touch at: info@tatamustudio.com