ryosuke harashima brings 'STILLIFE' to a tadao ando-designed museum in japan

in july 2019, ryosuke harashima shared the first part of his ‘STILLIFE’ collection and now, the designer is back with the latest pieces of the project. exhibited against the backdrop of the ishikawa nishida kitaro museum of philosophy in japan, which was designed by renowned architect tadao ando, harashima takes japanese antiques and morphs them into contemporary objects.

images by nik van der giesen

STILLIFE aims not to redesign the antiques but to instead create a dialogue with them. harashima reinterprets the ‘old folk tools’ with slim brass rods, creating a juxtaposition between the sleek new metal and the materials that have endured over decades. when speaking about the collection, the designer explains, ‘I try to inspire people to think about the meaning of sustainability and consumption through my collection of STILLIFE.’

the final images express a fascinating contrast between ryosuke harashima’s works and the space

‘casa do walk’ is a chest with four legs that imitates a building with stilts – it looks like a house that’s going to walk

‘dance dance dance’ is a set of nested clothing trays of different shapes that you can slide in all directions

‘under the hazy moon’

‘under the hazy moon’

‘under the hazy moon’ involved a collaboration with traditional japanese lantern craftsmaker kojima-shoten

‘mr. steward’ uses a luggage box called a hasami bako. it stands as a table but also as a steward who keeps the owner’s valuables safe. 

‘early dawn’ is a console table that stores two gold japanese folding screens. the antique wooden box would originally have been used in japanese nightlife culture.

‘how deep the dark’ is a low table that was made by morphing a wooden box lid

the black timber contrasts with the glossy metal rods

view of the ishikawa nishida kitaro museum of philosophy in japan

the latest works of ryosuke harashima were displayed as part of the ‘FUTURE PAST ‘exhibition

project info:

project name: STILLIFE

design: ryosuke harashima

photography: nik van der giesen

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom