Spoon & Tamago

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Tsumamiya 7.14 by 16A Architects

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16A Architects recently designed a new bar called Tsumamiya. It’s a cozy little izakaya that combines 2 of my favorite things eating/drinking and reading. The store is lined with bookshelves with all sorts of books to keep you company while you eat. You can put them back when you are done, or, if you feel the inclination to, you are welcome to purchase any of the books when you pay for your meal.

The door to the bathroom is even a sliding bookshelf so you can browse while you wait. And yes, the bathroom is certainly equipped with reading material, which is kind of gross if you ask me.

Tsumamiya 7.14
Suzuki Bldg 1st FL
Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya

Tangle Table by Akihisa Hirata

June 14, 2010 / Johnny / 1 Comment

Architect Akihisa Hirata’s latest work is currently on display at the Taka Ishii Gallery in Kyoto. “Tangle Table” is part of a joint-exhibition with Shimurabros, the sister-brother artist duo that is Yuka and Kentaro Shimura. The multimedia exhibition titled “6/1” was “designed as an experiment to explore the unknown potentialities born from bringing together concepts from both architecture and film.”

Puddle by Ryuji Nakamura

June 10, 2010 / Johnny / Comments Off

Architect Ryuji Nakamura, who always amazes me by his delicate use of materials, has a new piece up on his website. “Puddle” was part of an exhibition titled “Earth: materials for design” that just recently closed at the Miraikan in Tokyo.

Constructed only using cellophane, the piece – and in fact the exhibition itself – was a study on the way designers, considering their day-to-day interaction with materials, conceive the flow of time on our planet.

Via masahiro minami

Crate Furniture

June 9, 2010 / Johnny / 3 Comments

I recently discovered Crate Furniture, purveyors of beautiful wooden things, based out of Kagoshima, Japan. I would love to eat out of those wooden bowls. From the picture I can’t figure out how they were made, but those wooden vases are fantastic too.

It just so happens that some of their pieces are on display at Heath Ceramics (in LA) in conjunction with a show featuring products from Playmountain, a design shop in Tokyo. The show began on June 5th and runs through the entire summer (September 5th).If you are in the area you should definitely check it out!

Japanese fabrics and sewing

June 8, 2010 / Johnny / 4 Comments

My masculinity is going to take a hit on this one.

My wife recently finished up this sewing class and has enjoyed it immensely. After the kids go to sleep it’s become her routine to sit down at her sewing table and work (play?) for a few hours. I’ve heard it whispered in the past, but apparently it’s true – people will make trips to Japan solely to stuff their suitcases full of fabrics and carry their treasures back to their studio.

After watching my wife work I’ve finally started to pick up on some of the intricacies that make Japanese fabrics so endearing.

NaniIRO (what color) is one of the shops that my wife visits frequently. Sad to say, but I’ve found myself drooling over some of their fabrics, wishing I could reach into the screen and wrap them around myself to bandage my wounded manliness.

They also offer free sewing templates that you can print and make your own clothes. There is something very beautiful and endearing about the hand-written ones. However, according to my wife they make her shudder. For practicality she much prefers the computer-generated ones.

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And these are some images from another store she visits, Polka Drops.

And below is a what the computer-generated template looks like. Easier to follow, I guess. But I far prefer the hand-written one.

Cupmen 2: waiting for your instant noodles

June 7, 2010 / Johnny / 1 Comment

Japanese product design label h concept just announced the release of a sequel to their popular “waiting” figurine. Made from silicone, the figurine holds the lid down on your instant noodles, while reacting to the heat and changing color to let you know when your 3 minutes are up. The new model, Cupmen 2, carries all those same properties. The only difference is that it has taken a more laid-back approach to its work, as opposed to the diligent original. The product goes on sale June 10th for 840 yen.

9-tsubo house

June 2, 2010 / Johnny / 6 Comments

WHAT? Japan’s unit for measuring surface area of real-estate is based on a freaken tatami mat? wtf?
As soon as you can get by this oh-so-common reaction, you can begin to appreciate the ultimate in small spaces that is the 9-tsubo house.

The company has been commissioning several architects/designers to create variations on a “minimum house” concept called the 9-tsubo house (1 tsubo is about 35-sf) originally developed in 1952 by the architect Makoto Masuzawa. Completed just last month, their latest home is SAH (13,500,000 yen or about $146K), designed by Makoto Koizumi.

Makoto Koizumi designs furniture for 2 community centers in Japan

Design Twits | the Japanese design Twitterati

June 1, 2010 / Johnny / 2 Comments

A while back there was an interesting exchange of tweets between several product designers. Fumie Shibata lamented that when taking out the trash the previous evening she found one of her designs thrown away in the oversized trash bin. She had never seen her work in a heap of garbage and notes that it was so “real” compared to seeing it in the setting of someone’s home.

Which prompted Tomoko Azumi to admit that she once spotted one of her designs on ebay selling for way below market price. Annoyed by this, she purchased it herself only to realize that the plastic coating was peeling off everywhere. She jokingly stated that she was thinking about repainting it and reposting it on ebay.

So, I guess the question is… how far ahead should designers be thinking when designing a product? It’s second life? It’s third life? As part of a heap of oversized garbage?

Related:

Posters for Design To Change The World Exhibition

May 28, 2010 / Johnny / 1 Comment

Stunning…stunning graphic design for the “Design To Change The World Exhibition” by Takeo Nakano. I love the use of pictograms as a navigation device in these prints. The show is running through June 13, 2010.

There was a fascinating article in the New Yorker (Sub Rec’d) a few months ago about the stove pictured above.

About the exhibition:
Venue 1: Tokyo Design Hub (5/15 – 6/13)
Venue 2: Axis Gallery (5/28 – 6/13)
Description: After it’s huge success in 2007, Cooper Hewitt’s Design for the Other 90% has taken on a new life in Japan.

Architectural Model Greeting Cards by Terada Architects

May 27, 2010 / Johnny / 1 Comment

Speaking of Kaminokousakujo, another one of their latest products are these awesome greeting cards (580 yen) created from paper figures often used in architectural modeling. They are the recent brainchild of Naoki Terada (Terada Architects).

I think my favorite is the I’m Sorry card (not that I’m feeling guilty about anything!), which comes with the flexibility of molding your paper doppelganger’s bow to accurately communicate the intensity of your apology:

For example,

momentarily-held 10-degrees (“gosh, was that your toe I trod on?”)
briefly-held 25-degrees (“sorry, we’ve run out of tuna”)
2-second, 45 degrees (“I know you’re the Best Man, but the flight is canceled”)
5-second 45 degrees (“I’ve just backed over your dog, boss”)
20-second 90 degrees (“our widget blinds kids”)
and the “dogeza” kneel on the floor (“evacuate your village, the plant is exploding”)