Tokujin Yoshioka was born in Japan in 1967. He is one of the most important Japanese designers working today, and despite his age he has already worked in collaboration with renowned individuals such as Issey Miyake and Ross Lovegrove. Famed for his technically excellent work and superb appreciation of light as a design material, he uses fibre optics, stunning light installations and reflective-transparent materials in a way that leaves the observer with the impression that the future has arrived. One of his most famous projects so far is the design for the Issey Miyake shop in Tokyo, which was realized with transparent glass and acrylic furniture. His grand-scale style of design has recently brought him recognition on the international stage, and he has won a host of accolades, including the Award of Excellence from the I.D. Annual Design Review for two years running (2000 - 2001). Showing particular interest in new materials and technologies, his work ranges from the amazing Honey Pop chair, which is constructed solely through honeycomb sheets of paper, to a form of architecture based on an appropriating and painstaking act of relocation. His installations, such as that commissioned for the Tokyo Robot Meme exhibition, or the A-POC show at the Vitra Design Museum in Berlin, display an acutely-developed and playful aesthetic with a futuristic touch. Other projects include his feat of arranging specially-designed glass lenses to create the optical illusion called the Roppongi Think Zone - a reflective, cubic building erected on a Tokyo high street - which floats a few inches from the ground. At present he is working on a new furniture collection for Driade. This book will present his entire body of work through beautiful and abstract photographs showing Yoshioka's finished designs, accompanied by sketches, drawings and snapshot images showing the processes at work behind his designs to help to explain his complex technological approach. There will be an introduction by Issey Miyake and a main survey of Yoshioka's work to date by the writer, curator and critic, Nyu Niimi. This will be followed by four chapters, on Light, Transparency, Motion and Material, each beginning with an essay and looking at key Yoshioka designs in more detail. Essays are contributed by four key designers or clients, Ross Lovegrove, Ingo Maurer, Kozo Fujimoto and Paola Antonelli.

Author Biography

Ryu Niimi is a curator, writer and critic who featured in Spoon. Professor of Arts Policy and Management at Musashino Art University, he has also worked as curatorial adviser to the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum of Japan. He was curator at Sezon Museum of Art, Tokyo, from 1982 to 1999, where he curated several exhibitions of design and architecture. He is author of Essays on Modern Architecture, Design and Gardens (2000). Author's Residence: Tokyo Other contributors: Issey Miyake has established himself around the world as a respected and innovative Japanese fashion designer since his first collection in 1971. Through Miyake Design Studio, he has opened various shops, including A-POC in Paris and Pleats Please in New York. He has collaborated with many other designers, including Tokujin Yoshioka, and is the recipient of numerous awards. Ross Lovegrove has been working in London since 1988 where he has established a relationship with a long list of clients including JAL (Japan Airlines), Edra, Luceplan and many others. He has won many awards for his designs and has had his work frequently exhibited. He has just published his first book, Supernatural, with Phaidon Press. Kozo Fujimoto is in charge of communications for the Hermes fashion house in Japan. He is the driving force for the window display projects at the Renzo Piano-designed store and offices for the company, for which he collaborates with a range of world-renowned designers. Paola Antonelli joined the Museum of Modern Art in 1994 and is a curator in the department of architecture and design. She has contributed articles to many publications, including Metropolis and I.D. magazine and was contributing editor to domus magazine from 1987 to 1991. She was lecturer at the University of California, LA, where she taught design history and theory, and she has also lectured on design and architecture in Europe and the United States. Ingo Maurer is respected on a global scale for his creative lighting designs. He first established himself with his YaYaHo light and has since grown to develop many projects and to exhibit his work in Europe and New York. In 1999 he opened his own shop/showroom in New York.