Toshiyuki Kitas is one of the most respected Japanese product designers. Since he has been active both in Milan and Osaka, almost every year you can see his products at Milano Salone in April. He has designed so many important products in the history of design, but probably the most important contribution he has made is to revive the traditional Japanese design. This year in Milan he has shown his latest work which he designed with the help of Japanese producers.
Here is the press release of his exhibition:
KITA, NATURE AND TECHNOLOGY
Two apparently opposite worlds, the meeting of two antipodes which, thanks to the power of design, are blended into a new lifestyle concept. The spirits of nature and technology live and breathe within these objects presented by Toshiyuki Kita as symbols of new contemporary living, investigating the future use of natural materials. Humanity today possesses the inestimable value of ancient artisanship and avant-garde technological research: it is the designer’s task to make their union a reality, creating a lifestyle that can respect the resources that enrich us.
Light, durable woods from the Cryptomeria and Paulownia trees, washi paper and Arita porcelain, historical materials of Japanese craftsmanship, are reborn in the hands of the designer and merged into an original combination with recycled aluminium and carbon fibre, creating innovative and eco-friendly objects.
In a heterogeneous exhibition of objects and suggestions, Kita advances a new perspective on contemporary living: his chairs and tables, his illuminations and furnishing accessories clearly reveal traces of ancient Japanese tradition interpreted through a modern eye that look towards the future.
