‘bamboo-steel chair’ by nendo for yii all photos by masayuki hayashi
‘bamboo steel chair’ by japanese studio nendo is a collaboration with the yii initiative, whose art director is droog co-founder gijs bakker. run by the national taiwan craft research institute, yii is concerned with the revitalization and development of taiwan’s traditional crafts skills and industries.
front and back views
with their design, nendo researched taiwan’s traditional bamboo handicrafts and furniture, applying these methods to a more modern material – tubular steel pipes. their choice to use the metal over bamboo is to display how these techniques can be easily mass-produced with a certain level of quality in a contemporary context. bamboo handicraft techniques were used in the chair’s seat, weaving thin sliced sections and joining parts, wrapping them around each other allowing them to give the hard metal a sense of pliancy.
the chair comes in a high back and lower arm chair version
throughout the design process, bamboo artisans nendo was working with, visited metal workshops regularly, engaging in conversations about the project and its potential capacity. ‘bamboo-steel chair is the result of these discussions symbolizing new futures for traditional crafts through the cross-fertilization of different techniques and materials.
‘bamboo-steel chair’ is on show as part of the ‘yii’ exhibition at la triennale di milano during milan design week 2011.
high back version: 3/4 and front view
detail
sketch
