Hasta La Ideas

Text & Photos by Junya Hirokawa, Editor, Nikkei Design Magazine

As the evening approaches Tokyo, the air has a hint of winter chill to it. It’s during this seasonal transition from fall to winter that the Tokyo “Design Week” has firmly established itself. Designtide Tokyo is one of the 3 major events that make up the week, along with Tokyo Designers Week and Design Touch. Designtide’s main event was held again this year at the Tokyo Midtown, with roughly 27,000 attendees (including me).

This year’s Designtide event had a noticeable new flavor to it. What I immediately noticed about the exhibitor lineup this year was that the designers that used to be known as the young-guns had been replaced by a new batch of even younger designers. This new group, born in the post-1980 era, attracted a lot of attention with their exhibitions. In a country with such a large elderly population, it felt good to see new talent in the Japanese design industry as this young group shows their work to the world at large.

With those thoughts in mind, I made my way around the event asking industry insiders what caught their eye this year.

Colin Schaelli’s con.temporary furniture

Favorite Pick #1: con.temporary furniture by Colin Schaelli

I happened upon Mike Abelson, designer at POSTALCO, whose favorite pick was Colin Schaelli’s con.temporary furniture. Here’s what Abelson had to say:

I like the way that the whole thing can be put together in less than a minute and still be very stable. It is also nice not to have to use any fastening hardware or glue! It looks simple to manufacture but I have a feeling that it requires skilled craftsmen to make it—I am guessing that that is why it is made in Japan.

con.temporary furniture doesn’t use any screws or nails and can be easily put together or taken apart.

The con.temporary furniture series doesn’t use any screws or nails, and is easy to put together or take apart. Schaelli believes in using locally sourced materials, so all materials used for the furniture series are sourced from the location where the item is sold. He also has the furniture manufactured in the market in which it’s sold. Currently, his furniture is available in Japan and Switzerland, but Schaelli is looking to increase his reach soon.

Colin Schaelli’s con.temporary furniture and Mike Abelson of POSTALCO

POSTALCO, where Abelson designs, is a popular brand in Japan that specializes in leather goods, accessories, as well as stationary. All of POSTALCO’s products are born out of observing people’s daily lives, and are the type of high quality products that are loved by their owners. One of the more popular items at the shop is Abelson’s “bridge bag,” which utilizes the same structure as suspension bridge to achieve a lightweight bag that can hold heavy objects. Abelson had previously designed for Jack Spade.

Sosuke Nakabo, the designer behind the main exhibition space at Designtide, and his 3 year old daughter standing next to Schaelli’s con.temporary furniture.

Sosuke Nakabo, the designer behind Designtide’s main exhibition space, also chose con.temporary furniture as his favorite pick. Here’s what Nakabo had to say:

con.temporary furniture doesn’t necessarily have an immediate impact, but I felt like the workmanship is honest. Designtide Tokyo obviously attracts a large number of Japanese exhibitors. The good is that it’s a friendly and intimate community. The bad is that it can be too comfortable and placid. In that kind of environment, Colin’s shelf definitely stands out as different. It has that European perspective and history ingrained in it.

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