mikiya kobayashi designs a minimalist walnut, brass and leather ping pong table for masterwal

designer and director mikiya kobayashi has designed a walnut furniture collection for japanese manufacturing giant, masterwal. ‘yu’, meaning thoughtful in japanese, is thought to be masterwal’s brand concept. although the company has never had experience manufacturing chairs with complex structures, kobayashi led the team to create an elegant walnut-based armchair collection, as well as some entertainment items like a ping pong table.

the yu collection also includes entertainment items such as a minimalist ping pong table
image © all images yosuke owashi

initially, mikiya and masterwal designed three chairs for their collaborative walnut ‘yu’ furniture collection. of the three chairs, the ‘uc3’ is the quintessence of the brand — the most distinctive feature is its elegant wooden frame and leather back. additionally, mikiya not only created a set of chairs, tables ands sofas, he also designed a minimal walnut-clad ping pong table dubbed the ‘ua1’. it is stripped down to its essence: a singular solid brass line running through the center of the tabletop, crossed with a soft leather net.

the leather net can easily be removed, creating various uses for the table

details of the leather net

details of the brass line across the ping pong table

with the uc2, cleaning the floor is made easy thanks to the arms of the chair that sit comfortably on table tops

the yu chair collection

the back of the uc3 chair is made of leather

with the uc1, the chair is characterized by the back leg design that supports the backrest of solid wood

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edited by: lynn chaya | designboom