karimoku turns seats from the tokyo national stadium into limited edition pieces

back in 2014, the iconic tokyo national stadium, which hosted the 1964 tokyo olympics, was demolished. with sustainability and recycling in mind, furniture company karimoku was able to salvage around 700 seats and commissioned three local designers to transform the seats into a limited edition collection of stools, chairs and benches.

the first piece of the karimoku’s stadium seats is the tokyo stool created by drill design. at first sight, the small, light stool looks delicate, but it meets the company’s strict quality and durability standards. its structure references a tokyo tower or torii, with its straight, trapezoidal lines. its simple structure and material contrast made of plastic and wood create a balanced, lean form.

tokyo stool designed by drill design

the second seat is called pony, designed by hiroko shiratori. the chair was created with the idea of generating new relationships inside the user’s home. for this chair, the designer wanted to highlight as much as possible the stadium’s seating, including its distinctive form and color. that’s the reason why it looks unbalanced, as the small back of the seat itself is not attached to the backrest.

lastly, the kokuritsu bench has been designed by gen suzuki in order to give the sensation that the user is seating at the stadium itself. ‘the blue plastic seat is an icon for watching sports,’ comments suzuki. ‘the shape and color of the seat, the temperature when sitting, and the sense of distance from the seat next to it overlap the peaceful memory of watching sports.’

pony designed by hiroko shiratori

kokuritsu bench has been designed by gen suzuki