Press Release
Spiral of Life Glass Tableware by Keiji Ishikawa Is Granted the Golden A' Design Award in Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design
Keiji Ishikawa honored for bakeware, tableware, drinkware and cookware design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Golden A' Design Award in the Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design category for Spiral of Life Glass Tableware by Keiji Ishikawa, designed for KJ studio. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Golden A' Design Award Explained
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 Spiral of Life Glass Tableware
In a fusion of mathematical structure and kinetic art, the Spiral of Life project presents a new direction for Kiriko glassware. This work captures the organic fluctuation of nature within a glass medium. The development originated from a collaboration between the designer and Ree, a paint dancer. By translating Fibonacci sequences into movement, Ree provided the conceptual framework for the design. Through 8 to 13 and 13 to 21 spiral ratios, the artisan connects traditional craft with biomathematics. The resulting harmony offers a rhythmic experience reflecting the natural pulse of the world.
About Keiji Ishikawa
After spending five years in Tokyo learning the traditional Japanese glass-cutting technique "Kiriko," a designer moved to Tokushima to establish his cutting-edge studio in 2019. His creations include a wide range of daily items, such as glasses, dishes, and lampshades, all featuring original designs that aim to bring a sense of calm and joy to people's lives. Recently, he has been interested in glassblowing and is producing exceptional multilayered glasses that showcase his unique sensitivity and creativity.
Award Record
With this recognition, Keiji Ishikawa is a winner of 6 A' Design Awards. The awards span the editions from 2020 - 2021 to 2025 - 2026 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design Award
The A' Kitchenware Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good kitchenware designs by best kitchenware brands and designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to kitchenware designers, product designers, industrial design studios and kitchenware brands from all countries. Entries typically include pots, pans, cutlery, plates, bowls and glasses. Awarded kitchenware designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/kitchenware
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/181198
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/181198
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!181198
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/275476
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://bit.ly/3DWSe2q
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
- Spiral of Life Glass Tableware
- Function
- Glass Tableware
- Category
- Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home and Food & Hospitality
- Colors
- Dark Red, Midnight Blue, Dark Slate Blue, Maroon and Dark Blue
- Images
- 5
- Client
- KJ studio
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Keiji Ishikawa
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #181198
Credits
- Image Credits
- Video Credits: To demonstrate the rhythmic harmony and life-like pulse of the design, the video showcases the glassware in rotation. This highlights how the patterns shift and intersect dynamically as the perspective changes, illustrating the Spiral of Life concept through the interaction of light, shadow, and the intricate Kiriko hand cuts.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Fibonacci spirals follow strict mathematical laws yet appear organic and asymmetrical, resisting simple geometric repetition. Traditional Kiriko requires precise vertical and horizontal guidelines before cutting; however, standard grids cannot capture this natural fluctuation while ensuring reproducibility. To solve this, I developed a hybrid approach: maintaining the Fibonacci count with guidelines while manually adjusting each cut to ensure a smooth, living trajectory.
- Inspiration
- I initially struggled to translate the relationship between the sun and the sunflower into glass. The breakthrough came via my daughter Ree, an artist and paint dancer, who shared my fascination with the sunflower Fibonacci spiral. This pattern blends mathematical law with organic asymmetry. Ree physicalized this sequence by synchronizing her leg drawn spiral counts with Fibonacci numbers. Witnessing this kinetic manifestation inspired me to transpose these complex spirals onto Kiriko glass.
- Research
- A true Fibonacci spiral requires clockwise and counterclockwise counts to be adjacent numbers in the sequence. To ensure visual balance and mathematical integrity, I conducted extensive research to determine the optimal pairings, such as 8 to 13 or 13 to 21, based on specific glass diameters and curvatures. This study ensured that the mathematical beauty remains consistent.
- Challenge
- Through rigorous prototyping, I established a specialized system. Smaller vessels like sake cups use an 8 to 13 spiral ratio, while larger items like wine and rock glasses employ a 13 to 21 ratio to maintain proportion. For vessels with decorative bases, such as a soba cup, I meticulously integrated an 8 to 13 spiral on the bottom to enhance aesthetic coherence. This precise scaling was essential to capturing the Spiral of Life across the entire collection.
- Realization and Technology
- The double-layered glassware is carefully ground and polished by hand using Japanese Kiriko cut glass technology.
- Operation and Interaction
- The streamline motifs are executed with wide-angle V cuts. When viewed from the side, patterns on the far surface refract through the front, creating complex layered intersections that evoke the mystery of life. From a top-down perspective, the precise Fibonacci sequence achieves a profound, harmonious balance. The design invokes a rhythmic and engaging experience, mimicking a living pulse. This interaction between light and geometry brings dynamic vitality to the glassware.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in December 2025 in Tokushima, Japan, and finished in February 2026.
- Specifications
- The product dimensions are as follows: The rock glass is 77mm in diameter and 92mm in height, as shown in the main image. In optional image #1, the wine glass is 58mm in diameter and 150mm in height. In optional image #2, the soba cups are 81mm in diameter and 62mm in height. In optional image #3, the sake cup is 60mm in diameter and 60mm in height. Finally, the top views of the sake cup and soba cup filled with water are shown in optional image #4.
- Keywords
- kiriko, cutglass, japaneseglassware, glassart
