Sakura Cyclone Mensa by Tomoaki Kageyama is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum in Designatio Supellectilis Competition Category.
ArgentumSupellex· 2025
Sakura Cyclone Mensa
Client: Tomoaki Kageyama
Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum Winner in Supellex Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #164534The Design
About Sakura Cyclone Mensa
Haec est mensa humilis e ligno cerasino stratificato formato confecta, quae plerumque speciem magni cerasi in terra crescentis ostendit. Contra, luce accensa, flos cerasi in umbra efflorescit spatioque splendorem affert. Mensa est quae vesperam in tempus speciale convertit. Flos cerasi symbolum magni momenti in Iaponia est. Sed flores cerasi hebdomade una tantum quotannis florent. Haec mensa cum splendore fugaci arboris cerasi florentis designata est.
The Recognition
About the Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum
Sakura Cyclone Mensa victor est Praemii A' Design Award Argenteum, honoris eximie amplissimi formis summi generis, pulchris et conspicuis dati. Victores Argenti opera valde splendida et creandi ingenio praedita sunt, quae praestantem peritiam, talentum et acumen auctorum suorum ostendunt. Exspectatur Sakura Cyclone Mensa opus mirabile, exemplare, valde professionale et penitus novum fore. Haec forma Argento victa inventum notabile et admiratum est, quod ad fines artis, scientiae, formandi rationis et technologiae promovendos confert. Sakura Cyclone Mensa creatio est, quam multi invident, quae cupiditates excitat, sensus bonos affert et admirationem miraculumque movet.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- This design proposal is a low table made of molded cherry plywood. The unique point of this table is the design of the shadow that falls from the table. This table usually looks like a large cherry tree growing on the earth. On the other hand, when turning on the light, the cherry blossom blooms in a shadow and makes the space brilliant. It is a table that turns an evening into a special time.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The furniture was made in a workshop in the Hida region in Japan, a famous furniture production area in Japan. The size of this table is H400 mm*D400 mm, W400mm.
- Tags
- Table, Cherry blossom, Sakura, shadow
- Production Technology
- The furniture is made of Molded plywood. Detailed mating is the key to designing accurate shadows. I created a mechanism to adjust the angle of the plywood installation with wires, allowing fine adjustment of the falling shadows.
- Design Challenge
- It was difficult to consider the configuration of parts to realize that only when the pendant light is turned on at night a shadow falls and cherry blossoms bloom. I created several scale models and conducted many experiments to check the shadows by turning on the lights. Then, I realized this idea using the construction method of diagonally mating R500mm curved wood.
- Research
- I explored the essential elements of Japaneseness in order to create a table that is uniquely Japanese. In the process, I came across the famous book “In Praise of Shadows” by the famous Japanese classic writer, Junichiro Tanizaki. Through this book, Tanizaki showed that since ancient times, Japanese people have been conscious of the shadows behind light and have found a sense of beauty in these shadows. Therefore, we designed this table based on the hypothesis that we could create essentially Japanese furniture by designing the shadows that fall from the table, which modern people are usually unaware of.
- Inspiration
- This table is a conceptual design in my lab. I tried to incorporate Japanese essential aesthetics into a Western furniture table.
Cherry blossom is an important symbol in Japan. But cherry blossoms bloom for only about one week of the year. Japanese people are fascinated by the momentary brilliance of cherry blossoms. I designed it with the fleeting brilliance of the Cherry blossom tree. - Project Duration
- The project started in 2022 in Nagoya Japan and finished at the end of 2023.
- Operation Flow
- During the day, users relax with a cup of tea or a book at the table, where they can feel the warmth of the wood. At night, they can spend a special time drinking a glass of wine on the table, which becomes as brilliant as a cherry tree in full bloom thanks to the shadows cast by the room light. We envision that this table will also used in restaurants or pubs.
Sponsored
Explore Beyond Designers.org
Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.
More to Explore
Related Designs
Explore more award-winning designs from the same category, selected by merit.
