takt project burns fibreglass-wrapped chair to unveil glass shell

takt project unveils the underlying value of design

TAKT PROJECT’s ‘Homage to SHIRO KURAMATA -Unexplainable-’ pays tribute to the pioneer of Japanese contemporary interior design with a blazing furniture installation. Exhibiting at Milan Design Week 2023’s Salon del Mobile, the Tokyo- and Sendai-based studio reinterprets Kuramata’s 1985 work ‘Begin the Beguine’ which involved wrapping a wooden chair in steel and setting it aflame.

Instead of iron, TAKT PROJECT encases the furniture in an intricate web of fibreglass, burning it to leave behind a transparent glass shell of a chair as the flames die out. As the piece undergoes its hypnotic transformation, audiences are reminded that though the value of design is intangible and cannot be articulated, it certainly exists.

‘Homage to SHIRO KURAMATA -Unexplainable-‘ in flames | image courtesy of TAKT PROJECT

a phantom of a chair unveiled from a fibreglass shell

For Milan Design Week, one of the world’s largest annual design festivals taking place from April 18 to 23 this year, the team at TAKT PROJECT explores issues faced by modern design practices alongside the underlying value of design itself. For ‘Homage to SHIRO KURAMATA -Unexplainable-’, a continuous string of glass fibre is wrapped around a chair, presenting an initial sculptural furniture piece. In an act that unveils and encapsulates the indescribable influence of design on our lives, the whole is burnt, revealing a phantom of glass in the shape of a translucent, shining chair.

The piece will be exhibited at DROPCITY along Via Sammartini in the Central Station area in Milan as part of ‘The Thinking Piece’, a non-profit platform from Japan. The group exhibition calls for Japanese designers to begin exploring ways to resolve various social issues through their works, creating a public platform to disseminate their ideas.

a string of glass fiber encases the chair to begin with | image by Masayuki Hayashi