As the first product to find a home within Tokyo Craft Room, De Intuïtiefabriek’s collaboration with Masaru Kawai (Soma) warrants a closer inspection. Beyond the minimal facade of light gold cedar and translucent paper panels, the free-standing cabinet has an air of ambiguity. Playing with the contrasting ideas of presentation and concealment, public and private, open and closed, the cabinet creates a conversation with both its contents and its surroundings.
Designs that invite discovery and interaction have added value, explains Eefiene Bolhuis. “We do not see containers [such as cabinets] as static objects, but as a means of concealing things, showing them properly or even encouraging their discovery. The opening and closing of drawers and doors has something magical for us, something intimate and amazing.”
By exploring this sense of discovery through design, De Intuïtiefabriek have embraced ambiguity, creating a product that is functional yet remains open to interpretation.
“A lot of the time we feel like we want to define things and make them clear, but this time we just wanted to let it be,” says Eva Gevaert. Standing alongside her fellow designer, Bolhuis highlights a number of potential arrangements. “We intentionally made the cabinet space defining. It’s not one-sided and so you wouldn’t put it against the wall, like a conventional cabinet, instead you’ll have more interaction around it,” she adds.
These ideas are reflected in the product’s name, Ranma. Derived from the Japanese word for the traditional architectural panels which allow air and light to flow between rooms, the name speaks to the cabinet’s multi-faceted design and relationship to space. The panels often include an element of visual storytelling, another common aspect, while the name takes on further significance when broken down phonetically: ran means the Netherlands and ma means space.
For Soma’s Masaru Kawai, who trained as an architect before shifting his focus to woodwork, the cabinet embodies the three key ideas at the core of his practice: mountain, river and craft. Looking back on the collaboration, he reflects on its impact on his work. “When working on my own, I have to design within the limits of my skills as a craftsman,” he says. “Through this collaboration, the designers challenged me to do something for the first time and something new has been born through a combination of our ideas.”
Beyond the finished product itself, the significance of the collaboration for both sides may lie in a new appreciation for the potential of their roles as designers and makers. The edge of possibility, a way of thinking introduced by Gevaert during the field research, has been rendered visible in the unframed section of the cabinet doors. Developed as an intuitive response to the delicate Mino paper, the conceptual detail proved to be a significant challenge for Kawai to bring to life. “It was risky in a way, especially because the paper’s really fragile,” explains Gevaert. “However, it also makes you aware of its value. I don’t mind that it’s not the most practical element, I like the idea that people will be more aware of taking care of the cabinet.”
De Intuïtiefabriek
De Intuïtiefabriek is a design studio since 2012 in Amsterdam with a vision based on their intuitive way of working in which the use of materials and techniques are essential. They bring them to create within different fields of design; from slipcasting porcelain to blowing glass and bending wood. The outcomes vary from furniture to tableware. To De Intuïtiefabriek designing is all about craftsmanship, the touch of material and the actual act of making things. Their aim is to create perfectly crafted products, from which you can feel the love with which they were made. They create a pure, precise and elegant feeling, taking the observer into a new world.
SOMA
SOMA is a lifestyle brand focusing on the products made of coniferous. The director is Mr. Masaru Kawai, a Japanese wood artist. He established that with the aim to communicate Japanese ancient wooden culture to the present age. The brand has a wide range of activities related to wooden culture, including selling original products, workshops, and talk shows.“SOMA” is originated from the word “杣 (soma)”, the name of people who lived and worked with woods in the mountains in Japan.
“Ranma” Cabinet
Size:
W1100 H1800 D400 mm
Material:
国産杉、美濃和紙 / Japanese cedar , Japanese “Mino” Paper
Price:
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