Furniture designer, Yodo Kurosawa has two cultural backgrounds, Japanese and Finnish, tinge of which we happen to witness in all his creations. Now he lives and works in Lahti (Finland) and continues his master’s degree in University of art and design Helsinki.
He gets inspiration by watching people on streets. Solving people’s daily problems and creating easier life for them are his tasks of work, where appears Japanese aesthetics and Finnish functionality. In free time, he trains his originalities by playing with children.
Wanna know more, well, scroll down and see for yourself.
1. Yodo, please introduce yourself to our readers?
Yodo: I am Japanese furniture designer, working and living in Finland. I have Japanese father and Finnish mother and I had lived in Japan for 20 years before I moved to Finland, where I have got education of design. I had also studied carpentery of wooden furniture before I went to design school.
2. Please tell us the story behind Stealth chair and Taiga sofa series, (as seen above) which were displayed in Furnia furniture and interior fair in Lahti, Finland?
Yodo: Both works, ‘Stealth’ and ‘Taiga’ are designed when I was in Institute of design Lahti.
‘Stealth’ chair is my first chair design. There was one design course where we studied ergonomics of seating. After that each student designed a chair based on ergonomics study. So ‘Stealth’ chair is very comfortable to seat, even its surfaces look sharp and hard. I liked this ironic of look and feel.
‘Taiga’ sofa series was supposed to be my diploma work of Institute of design Lahti. But I got another offer from train Seat Company, so I had designed ‘Taiga’ for one local company, Etella Oy. ‘Taiga’ got ‘The Furniture of the year 2005′ award form ‘Avotakka’ interior magazine.
3. What do you have to say regarding the durability of your Stackable chair that you have made up of thin plywood?
Yodo: That must be ‘Sim’ chair. It was experimentation of making durable chair used only thin plywood, about 12mm. ‘Sim’ chair might look sensitive, but under its seat, there are durable structures that keep legs, seat and backrest together tight. It is, again, ironic of look and feel.
4. You happened to be one of the recipients of the stipends at the Young Forum 2004 exhibition at Design Forum Helsinki. How has the kind of recognition benefitted your career?
Yodo: Unfortunately the stipend did not help me to get straight offers. But it encouraged me to continue my education and work. In Finnish design field, people know me and my ‘Stealth’ chair because of this stipend.
5. How far are you able to amalgamate Japanese and Finnish culture into your creative work?
Yodo: There are some similar faces between Japanese and Finnish design. Both cultures admire simplicity and functional. Wood, as a material, is important for both countries because of those it is easy to use my background into my work. Funny thing is that, people said that there is Japanese spirit in my work. It might be true.
6. In addition to furnishing homes and public premises, what other things have been spilled by your creative genius?
Yodo: I had designed different products, candleholder, saltshaker, stationary cases, and fireplace. I have also used different materials, like ceramics, metal, glass, plastics, wood and even ice.
7. What materials do you enjoy working with?
Yodo: It is difficult question. I am always trying to choose right materials in right place. Every material have own character. We should know material well so that we can use it in best performance place and save extra material and energy.
8. Yodo, is there any designer from the past that has influenced you or that you particularly appreciate the work of?
Yodo: I appreciate Poul Kjærholm and his work. He had used basic materials but result was always beautiful and more than those materials. Also details of his work make it perfect.
9. In the design process, who is most influential in pushing for ‘better’ solutions: designers, clients, government, or consumers?
Yodo: I think designers influence most but designers must know consumers well. Consumers have problems always. It is designer’s due to find those problems out because consumers do not tell their problems to designers.
10. Any words of wisdom, you’d like to leave for our readers?
Yodo: People buy many products and services every day. When they buy something, they have power to choose one. I hope that people use this power well to choose such product or service that helps sustainable development. Even it costs more.
11. Finally, we would like to have your thoughts on the Instablogs News Network and all its related sites. Which one is your favorite?
Yodo: Well, the instablogs news is O.K. for me.
Finally I’d like to thank Yodo for sparing out time for doing an interview with us, it is greatly appreciated; also I’d like to wish him luck for all his future endeavors.
