Focusing on simply drawing out the characteristics and techniques of the materials, designer Wataru Kumano’s idea led to the creation of a “mirror” made with Kitajima Shibori’s Spinning technique.
Although there are various shapes of mirrors, they have a strong impression of a flat frame, but Kumano’s design concept is “I want to install a mirror with a new presence in TOKYO CRAFT ROOM that is not flat, but something like a three-dimensional mass of mirrors.” In order to achieve this, the flat surface of the mirror had to be as large as possible, and the molds used were carefully selected and verified. The plan was to create a huge drop-shaped mirror with a diameter of 80 cm and a thickness of about 15 cm.
After making samples and going through various tests to complete the project, we finally started the actual production. The only material used was a single sheet of stainless steel. There are no parts to assemble, no painting, just a simple “metal plate formed to fit the mold and polished on the surface,” a process that can only be achieved by using the spinning technique.
As soon as the stainless steel plate and mold, cut into an 80cm diameter circle, are mounted on the machine commonly known as a potter’s wheel, the process of forming the metal into the mold begins.
1st Sample at about half size.
In the same way that a potter uses a potter’s wheel to create a shape with his own hands, he rotates a special machine called a potter’s wheel and uses a spatula to gradually shape it into a mold. In less than 30 minutes, the flat metal plate is infused with the shape of a product.
In order to achieve the ideal shape while adjusting the rotation speed of the wheel and the amount of squeezing, the sensation of the human hand is the most important factor, which cannot be controlled by machines or numerical values. The process may seem “quick,” but it takes about ten years for a craftsman to be able to do this kind of spinning on his own.
In order to make a product that meets the customer’s requirements and drawings, we are considering various patterns of how we should process the product to achieve a satisfactory finish. In this case, the surface will be polished to make it a mirror, so even the slightest scratch or spatula mark will be noticeable. That’s why we made sure that there are no scratches,” said Mr. Mitsuhashi of Kitajima Shibori Seisakusho.
Products are brought to completion with previously unimaginable designs and technologies. Behind such bold ideas lies a meticulous process between designers and manufacturers. Today, mirrors are generally made by coating glass with silver or copper plating to create a chemical reaction, but in ancient times, excavation of ruins has revealed that stones and metals were polished to make mirrors. The challenge of creating such a mirror from a single metal plate in this project has brought us face to face with a completely new mirror, and at the same time, I can’t help but feel that it will awaken our primitive senses.
>>Continued in Story 3
Wataru Kumano
Wataru Kumano is a product designer. From 2001 to 2008 studied in Finland, studied Furniture design at Lahti Polytechnic (2001-2004 BA), and University of Art and Design Helsinki (Aalto University) for Postgraduate studies (2005-2008 MA). After he came back to Japan, he started work as an assistant designer of British Product Designer Jasper Morrison in Tokyo in 2008. Beside the work, set up own design office “kumano” in 2011, and work for interior, furniture, product design and project management around the world. In 2021, he was inaugurated associate professor for Musashino Art University.
Kitajima Shibori Seisakusho
Kitajimabori Seisakusho, founded in 1947 and located in Ota-ku, Tokyo, specializes in the processing of metal spinning. The company is involved in a large number of productions ranging from a small number of hand-made products to mass-produced products using automatic drawing and press forming. The specialize in spinning of special metals, and with its state-of-the-art equipment and know-how accumulated over the past 70 years, it is able to produce a wide range of sizes and types of parts, from satellite equipment parts to aircraft, semiconductor devices, and monuments.
“bead” Mirror
Size:
φ800mm
Material:
Stainless steel
Price:
Ask