Shiro Kuramata

is a designer Japanese, born on November 29th, 1934 with Tōkyō and deceased in on February 1st, 1991.

Biography

It continues studies of architecture in Tōkyō then of design at the School of Kuwazawa design. In 1965, Kuramata founds its own workshop of design, the Kuramata design Office . During years 1970 and 1980, Kuromata works as and designer interior designer of furniture.

Near to Ettore Sottsass, Shiro Kuramata partipe with the Group of Memphis for which it draws some pieces of furniture. It also creates shops for Issey Miyake in Paris, Tōkyō and New York. In 1988, Kuramata settles in Paris where it founds its workshop of design.

It is made knight of the Arts and the Letters in 1990. Recognized like one of the large designers of the 20th century, its creations make from now on left the collections of the large museums (MoMA, Musée of decorative Arts, etc)

Its work

The style of Shiro Kuramata is made of humor and poetry combined with a search of lightness and minimalism. Its work on the transparance and the light makes a precursor of it: in 1969 it draws a luminous acrylic resin table, in 1976 it creates Glass Flesh , a chair entirely out of glass; in 1988 it primarily draws the armchair White Miss transparent plastic including petals of pink (inspired of the shirt maker decorated with red roses of Vivien Leigh in a a tram named Désir ). The armchair How High the Moon (1986) manufactured in metal lattice, takes part of the same search of transparance and immateriality.

The work of Kuramata is also strongly influenced by contemporary artists abstracted like Piet Mondrian (armchair Glass Flesh ) or Donald Judd (armchair Sedia Seduta ).

Realization outstanding

The production of Shiro Kuramata primarily consists of limited and rare series:
  • Armchair Knells Flesh (1976)
  • Convenient Side 1/Side 2 (1970), Cappellini
  • Table Twilight Time (1985), XO
  • Armchair How High the Moon (1986), Glazed
  • Fauteuil White Miss (1988)

Because of their scarcity, creations of Kuramata reach high prices in the auctions: thus an armchair White Miss was sold 46  000  £ in 1997 and one acrylic resin stool Feather stool 40  000  $ in 2005.

Notes and references of the article

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