Sebastian Herkner for ABR, Bell Table
We recently had the opportunity to attend Valencia Design Week and were witness to the beautiful landscape and a certain quality of light that illuminates this region of Spain. Madrid-based designers Cutu and Eva of Stone Designs pay homage to the Spanish passion (their words, not ours) towards light during Tokyo Design Week with Spainalight, an exhibition of 117 objects at the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo. Tokyo Design Week kicks off this weekend with events scattered around the city in addition to the two major fairs: Tokyo Designer’s Week and DesignTide Tokyo.
Tomás Alonso, Apple Table and Bottle Light
Stone Design explains the inspiration behind the theme of the show:
The Spanish have always been known for several qualities, the strong use of colour, masterful and shameless at the same time, uncensored passion that print their works or in their own way of showing the contrasts of a country that has been a melting pot of cultures and in which its geographical position has given a privileged place in history…The light in Spain has made us sociable, restless and has allowed us to see things from an optimistic view overcoming our most difficult moments in history. Our light, that complicit Mediterranean light, complicit in our short nights and the enemy of sadness, is what we want to articulate in the mounting of exhibitions, appearing through these works with an architectural character, like spots on an orange, so intense that it can be troublesome at times, but makes clear the strength with which light influences our creations.
Antoni Arola for Santacole, Blanco White.
As an introduction to the Spainalight, the Embassy commissioned a documentary about the influence of light, “in the process of creation for Spanish creatives.” Three Spanish artists from the world of architecture (Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas), industrial design (Joan Gaspar) and fine art (Daniel Canogar) representing three Spanish cities were interviewed about their work and the way that light is used as a starting point for various projects. Check the documentary after the jump (a nice Friday film, at full length it’s about 45 minutes) or see the full exhibition during Tokyo Design Week.
Embassy of Spain, Tokyo
1-3-29 Roppongi Minato-ku
Tokyo 106-0032
Patricia Urquiola for Ganrugs, Mangas
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