design

design L13
THE BUSINESS TIMES WEEKEND SATURDAY/SUNDAY, MAY 9-10, 2015 ●
Almost famous
Sori Yanagi was known more for his work than his
name – just the way he wanted it. By Arthur Sim
S
ORI Yanagi (1915-2011) was probably one of
Japan’s most famous designers that you would
not have heard of. If this sounds like a contradiction, it is because the designer himself was
loath to claim fame for himself despite having
designed modern classics such as the Butterfly Stool. Designed in 1956, the stool, with its distinct Asian accents,
comprises two pieces of moulded plywood held together
with a simple brass fitting. In 1958, it was selected for the
permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in
New York, sealing the designer’s legacy.
Yet, Yanagi would have preferred to remain just another nameless designer with his work existing in a realm of
anonymity where almost mundane objects (that he
much admired) such as denim jeans, baseballs and ice axes already inhabit. Indeed, contemplating the ice axe, he
wrote: “Whether it is designed well or not, it directly connects to the climber’s life. There is nothing in excess, simply bare function born out of sheer necessity. There is no
room in this dignified form for the designer to intervene
with his own aesthetic.”
His thoughts on “Anonymous Design” and other insights are now available in
English for the first time
as a translated collection
of his essays called The
Philosophy of Design.
This, together with a retrospective of selected
works called Beauty
born, not made: Sori
Yanagi, is now on show
at the Lim Hak Tai Gallery. The
works include a stainless steel
kettle designed in 1994 that also won the Good Design Award
in Japan as well as cutlery designed in the 1980s incorporating handmade wooden handles that have since become collector’s items.
Also a biography of sorts, Yanagi’s The Philosophy of
Design reveals that in his youth, his tastes were not always ascetic, much to his father’s displeasure. His father,
Soetsu Yanagi, was a revered philosopher who co-founded the mingei folk arts movement in Japan that sought to
preserve traditional arts and crafts. It was only after graduating from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts
and a subsequent stint as Charlotte Perriand’s assistant,
(who was the assistant to the acclaimed Modernist architect Le Corbusier), that Yanagi began to draw parallels between Modernism and mingei. These were that beauty
was born from function; that the beauty of a form emerges from its materials; and that good design comes from
the proper use of technique or technology.
In 1953, he founded his Yanagi Design Office where he
created objects such as the Butterfly Stool and designed
other commercial products including cutlery, sewing machines, kitchen utensils, tricycles and even an adhesive
tape dispenser. There were more esteemed commissions
including the design of the Olympic torch holder for the
Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964 and later in 1972, the
flame holder for the Sapporo Winter Olympics.
By the late 1970s, however, Yanagi had become disen-
chanted by the business of design
and commercial production. In
one essay, Thoughts on Design,
he wrote: “With modernisation, all sorts of contradictions arise.” Referring to the
culture of consumption,
he added: “We have
reached a point where
we are compelled to
consider how to take
care of our precious resources.
We must especially warn against
mass production that
encourages wasteful consumption.”
Tellingly, when Yanagi’s Elephant Stool (1954), which
was originally made of a fibreglass compound, was re-issued by the furniture company Vitra about 10 years ago,
it was produced in a recyclable plastic material.
While it may be possible to infer that Yanagi felt that
design had become a commodity to be exploited by marketeers, what is perhaps more interesting is that when his
own son, Shin-ichi informed Yanagi that he wanted to be
an industrial designer as well, Yanagi advised against it.
“He was very conflicted at that time in the late 1970s.
He loved to design but he was also very concerned that
he was harming the environment,” reveals Shin-ichi,
who eventually went on to become an engineer instead
at his father’s behest because he believed “technology
was the future”.
Shin-ichi is now a director at Yanagi Industrial Design
Office in Tokyo where he also helps to manage the legacy
of his father’s life’s work without glorifying the man. “His
name may not be known throughout the country but in a
small museum in Kanazawa (Ishikawa Prefecture) dedicated to Yanagi, people do discover that they have been
using Yanagi’s designs for ages. People may not know his
name but they know the product
– and that was always his intention,” adds Shin-ichi.
✎ The Philosophy of
Design – Essays by Sori
Yanagi (S$40) is available
at Beauty born not made:
Sori Yanagi, Lim Hak Tai
Gallery, Nafa
Campus 1,
80 Bencoolen
Street from
April 29-May 17,
2015. Opening times:
Tuesday – Sunday,
11am-7pm.
Free Admission.
A tour of the exhibition
will be conducted by
Co-curator Outofstock
on May 9 2015, 2pm-4.30pm
ONE OF A KIND
Anti-clockwise from left:
Designed in 1956, the
Butterfly Stool, with its
distinct Asian accents,
comprises two pieces of
moulded plywood held
together with a simple
brass fitting; Elephant
Stool, designed in 1954;
stainless steel kettle
designed in 1994 that
won the Good Design
Award in Japan.
PHOTOS: YANAGI DESIGN
OFFICE, TENDO CO LTD, VITRA
Sori Yanagi (1915-2011)
would have preferred to
remain just another
nameless designer with
his work existing in a
realm of anonymity.