Cross Cultural Chairs: Japan
<SPAN lang=EN>‘We wear the same shoes, listen to the same playlists, and watch the same films,’ says designer Matteo Guarnaccia. ‘But do we also use the same chairs? Do we sit in the same way?’ Driven by these questions and by his curiosity regarding production methods and how globalisation is affecting design, Guarnaccia travelled around the world to visit the eight most densely populated countries. In each country he stayed for one month. Once arrived, Guarnaccia crisscrossed metropoles and villages, visited markets and museums, and talked to the local inhabitants about their customs and habits, local politics and history – sometimes using hand and feet. This way he was able to form a picture of a country’s culture in a short space of time, with a keen awareness of his limited perspective as a (western) outsider. Working with local designers, he then translated that image into a design that had to result in a real chair within that same month, including a photo shoot and presentation. After all, on the first day of the next month Guarnaccia would fly off to his next destination. Guarnaccia started in Brazil and went on to visit Mexico, Japan, Indonesia, China, India, Russia and Nigeria. After eight intensive months, he returned home with eight different chairs as eight portraits of a country. <SPAN lang=EN-GB> <P dir=ltr align=left>The Japanese chair is a statement countering the Marie Kondo cliches of an excessive sobriety. By using high-quality materials – the producer grows his own wood – and attention for detail, this chair tells its own story. The design offers a modern take on the classic Japanese <I>zaisu</I> (legless chair). </SPAN>[text 2023]</SPAN></P>
