Layer Stool by Fuma Fujiwara is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha in Nhazi Ngwá Ụlọ Competition Category.

ỌlaọchaNgwá Ụlọ· 2023

Layer Stool

by Fuma Fujiwara

Client: Fujiwara Fuma

Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha Winner in Ngwá Ụlọ Category

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Colors

The Design

About Layer Stool

Ihe omume a malitere site n'iji osisi ndị nwere dayameta na obere osisi rụọ arịa ụlọ. A na-egbutu osisi dị na Okinawa n'ihi ọdachi ndị na-emere onwe ha na mgbasawanye okporo ụzọ. Otú ọ dị, n'afọ ndị na-adịbeghị anya, mgbasawanye okporo ụzọ ebelatala n'ihi echiche gburugburu ebe obibi, ya mere osisi na-ebelatakwa. Iji nọgide na-eme ngwá ụlọ Okinawa, ọ dị mkpa iji obere ihe. Ya mere, a na-emepụta stool Layer site na ijikọta ụdị osisi dị iche iche. A na-eme ya site na ihe mkpofu ebugoro. Nhazi a na-atụpụta uru ọhụrụ site n'ịrụgharị ihe mkpofu sitere na osisi Okinawan ka ọ bụrụ ngọngọ.

The Recognition

About the Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha

Layer Stool meriri A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha, nnabata dị oke ugwu e nyere design ndị dị n'ọkwa kachasị elu, mara mma ma na-eju anya. Ndị meriri na Ọlaọcha bụ ọrụ na-egbu maramara nke ukwuu ma dị oke nzụlite nke na-egosi ọmarịcha ihe ọmụma, talent na nghọta nke ndị designer ha. A na-atụ anya na Layer Stool ga-abụ ọrụ dị ịtụnanya, ihe nlereanya, nke dị oke ọrụ ma dị omimi n'ihe ọhụrụ. Design a meriri A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha bụ ihe e mepụtara dị oke ịrịba ama, nke a na-eto nke na-erite uru ma na-ebuga oke nka, sayensị, design na teknụzụ n'ihu. Layer Stool bụ ihe e kere eke ọtụtụ ndị na-ekwo ekworo ya nke na-akpali ọchịchọ, na-eweta mmetụta ọma ma na-akpali ịtụnanya.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: This project used small-diameter trees and scrap wood to make furniture. Wood in Okinawa is felled due to natural disasters and road expansion. Large pieces of wood are needed to make furniture. Therefore, I made woodcuts by combining a wide variety of woods. They are made by upcycling discarded materials. This design proposes a new value for the colorful "Okinawa tree".
Dimensions & Packaging: Width 640 mm x Depth 380 mm x Height 500 mm
Tags: stool, furniture, Okinawa, End material
Production Technology: To continue making Okinawan furniture, we need a way to use materials without waste. Therefore, we collected small pieces of wood and trees with small diameters discarded at lumber shops and workshops.

Seat : Camphor tree, Melia azedarach, Magnolia compressa, Castanopsis sieboldii, Acacia confusa, Pinus luchuensis, Tetradium glabrifolium, Trema orientalis, Podocarpus macrophyllus.
Legs : Acacia confusa.
Finish: beeswax.
Design Challenge: Layers are created by stacking trees. Those layers are usually horizontal. To show all the trees on the surface, I was inspired to express this by making the layers slanted. Creating the diagonal layers was the most challenging part. The diagonal layers created beautiful curves. I also tried to find a way to combine light and dark colors in the wood combination.
Research: Okinawa is Japan's southernmost archipelago and was once called the Ryukyu Kingdom. Okinawa has long had a different culture from Japan's main island, and other types of wood have been used. Twenty years ago, trees with large diameters were circulating in Okinawa, but recently the diameter of the trees in circulation is about 35 centimeters, and the material is shrinking. Finding a way to utilize small materials was necessary to sustain Okinawan furniture production, so the research began.
Inspiration: I live in Okinawa, an island in the south of Japan. Okinawa is known as the only subtropical region in Japan and has unique vegetation and culture. Many kinds of trees live on the island. Many types of trees are unique to the island, and I was surprised that there were many characteristic features, such as the trees color, smell, and texture. I made this furniture using nine kinds of Okinawan trees to let people know about Okinawan trees.
Project Duration: The project started in Okinawa in January 2023. The first deliverable was completed in March 2023 and exhibited at the Tokyo International Furniture Fair (IFFT).
Operation Flow: The hand-carved seat has a gentle slope. The indentation in the center of the chair gently fits your waist. The seat and legs of the chair can be disassembled. It is compact and portable and can be transported in flat-pack packaging. When assembling, it can be manufactured immediately just by inserting the legs.
Image Credits: [Image # 1: Photographer Fuma Fujiwara, Layer Stool, 2023]
[Image # 2: Photographer Fuma Fujiwara, Layer Stool, 2023]
[Image # 3: Photographer Fuma Fujiwara, Layer Stool, 2023]
[Image # 4: Photographer Fuma Fujiwara, Layer Stool, 2023]
[Image # 5: Photographer Fuma Fujiwara, Layer Stool, 2023]