Sakura Cyclone 桌子 by Tomoaki Kageyama is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award 银奖 in 家具设计 Competition Category.

银家具· 2025

Sakura Cyclone 桌子

by Tomoaki Kageyama

Client: Tomoaki Kageyama

A' Design Award 银奖 Winner in 家具 Category

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Colors

The Design

About Sakura Cyclone 桌子

这是一款以模压樱木胶合板制成的矮桌，平日看来宛如一棵生长于大地之上的高大樱树。而当灯光亮起时，樱花便在光影中绽放，令整个空间璀璨生辉。这是一张能将夜晚化作特别时光的桌子。樱花在日本是极为重要的象征，然而一年之中，樱花仅盛开约一周。此桌的设计，正是撷取了樱树那转瞬即逝的绚烂之美。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 银奖

Sakura Cyclone 桌子是 A' Design Award 银奖得主，这是授予顶级、华美而令人印象深刻的设计的极为崇高的认可。银奖得主是极其卓越、极具创造力的作品，展现出其设计师杰出的专业技能、才华与敏锐。预计Sakura Cyclone 桌子将成为一件出色的典范之作，兼具非凡的专业性与深刻的创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 银奖的设计是一项备受瞩目、令人钦佩的发明，造福并拓展艺术、科学、设计和技术的边界。Sakura Cyclone 桌子是一件令人羡慕的创作，它唤起渴望，带来积极的情感，并激发惊叹与赞叹。

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.