Tokujin Yoshioka

Tokujin Yoshioka
is a Japanese designer and artist.
He is active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, and he is internationally acclaimed for his works dealing with light and nature.
Many of his works chosen as part of permanent collections in museums worldwide, including Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Le Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou (Centre Pompidou) in Paris, and Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
He has won many international design awards. In 2007 he was named by Newsweek magazine as one of the 100 Most Respected Japanese in the World.
Profile and biography
Tokujin Yoshioka was born in Saga Prefecture, Japan in 1967. Since childhood, influenced by Leonardo da Vinci, learnt painting, such as oil painting, and had particular interest in science.
After graduating from the Kuwasawa Design School in Tokyo in 1988, he studied under the designers Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyake.
He established Tokujin Yoshioka Inc. in 2000.
Being active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, he creates works under the theme of light and nature, which also reflect the Japanese idea of beauty.
By using immaterialistic elements, such as light, creates expressions that is unique, surpassing the concept of shape.
He has designed for Issey Miyake and other global companies such as Cartier, Swarovski, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Toyota, and Lexus, and has been announcing new works at Salone del Mobile Milano(world's largest international furniture exhibition) in collaboration with Italian furniture brands, including Kartell, Moroso, Glas Italia and Driade.
He has won many international awards, including Design Miami Designer of the Year, presented to a designer who has made the most significant contribution to design globally, Elle Deco International Design Awards Designer of the Year and Milano Design Award.
Representative works
Chairs created out of natural structure, 2001
Paper chair 'Honey-pop' (2000) is a chair that changes shape from plane to three-dimensional. By spreading open a 1 cm layer of 120 layers of thin paper, a honeycomb structure is born, and only when a person sits on it, the shape is fixed and the work is completed. 'PANE chair' (2006) is made like fiberous structure of plants, creating a structure with thin fibers of 1mm intertwining. During the production process, a block made of fibers is placed in a paper duct and put in oven as if baking a bread and by adding heat, the form of chair is shape memorized and completed. Chair made of natural crystals 'Venus – Natural crystal chair' (2008) is a work that is transformed into a chair by growing natural crystals in a water tank to create crystalline structure.
Glass projects, 2002
Has announced starting with glass bench 'Water Block' (2002), 'Transparent Japanese House '(2002), 'Chair that disappears in the rain' (2002), 'Waterfall' (2005–2006), 'Glass Tea House – KOU-AN' (2011), 'Water Block – PRISM' (2017). Glass bench 'Water Block' has been exhibited at Musée d'Orsay in Paris since 2011.
Musée d' Orsay, Paris, 2011
At Musée d' Orsay in Paris, participated in renewal project of the Impressionists Gallery. Together with works of representative Impressionists, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 10 'Water Blocks', glass bench is permanently displayed. It blend in with light painted by the Impressionists painters, creating a space that starts a new conversation between history and contemporary.
Crystallized Project, 2008
Natural crystal chair 'VENUS – Natural crystal chair' (2008) is a work in which in a water tank, natural crystals are grown to form crystalline structures and transformed into a chair. One music piece creates one painting. With crystal paintings, 'Swan Lake', 'Destiny' and 'Moonlight', music is played during the growth process of crystals and is completed when forms of crystals are changed with the vibrations of sound. 'Rose' is a sculpture crystallizing colour pigments of rose, expressing the energy of life.
Rainbow Church, 2010, 2013
Architecture created using more than 500 crystal prisms, the 'Rainbow Church ', focuses on human sense of light perception, and is a work that is completed when a person experiences light. It is an architecture that expresses light itself, filling the space with rainbow colors as light is dispersed by prisms.
Glass Tea House – KOU-AN, 2011
At the 54th Venezia Biennnale International Art Exhibition, Glasstress 2011, the collateral event of the 54th La Biennale di Vennezia, the glass tea house – KOU-AN was presented as an architectural project and in 2015, was built on the stage (observation deck) of Shogun-zuka, a mound of Shogun, Seiryu-den, which is a precinct of Tendai Sect Shoren-in Temple. Ao (Blue) Fudo Myo-o statue, a national treasure, one of the three great Fudo, god of fire, is dedicated to Seiryu-den. From its 220 meters altitude big stage, you can enjoy a panoramic view over Kyoto city below. In the year 794, Emperor Kanmu visited this place and appreciating its basin formation (landscape) was convinced that Kyoto is the most suitable place to be designated a capital, initiating construction of the ancient capital city. So, it is said that this is the original point where ancient capital city of Kyoto, a city that symbolizes Japanese culture began.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Torch
On March 20, 2019, the torch for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was unveiled. The torch was designed by Yoshioka to be built in the shape of an iconic Japanese cherry blossom (sakura) flower using the aluminium extrusion manufacturing technology employed to produce Shinkansen bullet trains. He also designed the Paralympic torch for the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Representative works
2000 Tokujin Yoshioka Design
2000 TōFU / Yamagiwa
2001 Honey-pop
2001 THINK ZONE / Mori building
2002 Water Block
2002 Transparent Japanese House
2002–2003 Chair that disappears in the rain
2004 Souffle / Maison Hermès
2005–2007 MEDIA SKIN / au design project KDDI
2006 The Gate – Tokujin Yoshioka x Lexus
2006 Waterfall
2006 PANE chair
2007 Tornado / Design Miami
2007 Rainbow chair
2007 Tear Drop / Yamagiwa
2006–2008 Swarovski Ginza flagship store
2007–2008 VENUS – Natural crystal chair
2007–2008 Crystallized Painting – Moonlight / Destiny / Unfinished
2008 Eternal / Swarovski Crystal Palace
2009 Moon Fragment / Cartier
2009 Lake of Shimmer / Basel World / Swarovski
2010 X-RAY / KDDI iida
2010 Stellar / Swarovski Crystal Palace
2010–2013 Rainbow Church
2010 Snow
2011 Glass Tea House – KOU-AN / The 54th La Biennale di Venezia – Glasstress 2011
2011 The Impressionist Gallery renewal project / Musée d'Orsay
2013 Crystallized Painting – Swan Lake, Spider's Thread, Rose
2013 Wings of Sparkle / Basel World / Swarovski
2014 Cartier Time Art – Mechanic of Passion / Power Station of Art
2015–2017 Glass Tea House – KOU-AN / Shogunzuka Seiryu-den, Kyoto
2017 Spectrum
2017 Water Block – PRISM
2017 S.F chair
2019 Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Torch
2020 Crystal of Light / Tokyo Metro Ginza Station Public art
2022 Star / Tokyo Midtown Yaesu Public art
Major exhibitions
1998–2000 ISSEY MIYAKE Making Things / Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Ace Gallery NY, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
2002 Tokujin Yoshioka Honey-pop, MDS/G
2005–2006 Tokujin Yoshioka x Lexus / Museum of Permanente
2005 Stardust / Swarovski Crystal Palace / Milano Design Week
2007 Tornado / Design Miami / Designer of the year 2007
2007 Tokujin x Moroso / Milano Design Week
2009 Story of … Memories of Cartier Creations / Tokyo National Museum Hyokeikan
2008 Second Nature / 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT
2010 Sensing Nature / Mori Art Museum
2010 The Invisibles Snowflake / Kartell Gallery
2011 TWILIGHT – Tokujin Yoshioka / Moroso / Milano Design Week
2011 Tokujin Yoshioka : Waterfall / Sharman Contemporary Art Foundation
2011 Glass Tea House – KOU-AN / The 54th La Biennale di Venezia – Glasstress 2011
2011–2012, 2014 Cartier Time Art / Bellerive Museum, Artscience Museum, Power Station of Art
2012 TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA 2012 CREATOR OF THE YEAR / Maison & Objet
2013 TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA_Crystallize / Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
2014 La Biennale di Venezia – The 14th International Architecture Exhibition 2014
2015 Make Yourself Comfortable / Chatsworth House
2015 TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA_TORNADO / Saga Prefectural Art Museum
2015–2017 Glass Tea House – KOU-AN / Shogunzuka Seiryu-den, Kyoto
2017 TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA_SPECTRUM / Shiseido Gallery
2017 TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA x LG : S.F / Milano Design Week
Permanent collections
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Vitra Design Museum
The Art Institute of Chicago
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Saint Louis Art Museum
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Israel Museum
Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art
Major awards
1997 JCD Design Award – Grand prize (Japan)
2000 I.D. Annual Design Review (USA)
2001 I.D. Annual Design Review (USA)
2001 A&W Award The Coming Designer for the Future (Germany)
2002 Mainichi Design Award 2001 (Japan)
2005 Talents du Luxe (France)
2007 The 57th Art Encouragement Prize for New Artist (Japan)
2007 Good Design Award – Gold prize (Japan)
2007 Design Miami – Designer of the Year 2007 (USA)
2008 Wallpaper Design Awards 2008 – Best furniture designer (UK)
2008 DFA Design for Asia Awards 2008 – Grand Award (Hong Kong)
2009 ELLE DECO International Design Awards – Designer of the Year 2009 (Italy)
2010 Fast Company – The 100 Most Creative People in Business 2010 (USA)
2010 TOKYO Design & Art ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS – Artist of the Year (Japan)
2011 A&W Architektur & Wohnen – Designer of the Year 2011 (Germany)
2012 Maison & Objet – Creator of the Year 2012 (France)
2016 ELLE DECO International Design Awards (EDIDA) 2016 (Italy)
2017 Milano Design Award 2017 – Winner (Italy)
Publications, collection of works
2001 Tokujin Design (gap / Japan)
2006 Tokujin Yoshioka Design (English edition, Japanese edition) (Phaidon / UK)
2008 Second Nature (Kyuryudo / Japan)
2009 Invisible Forms (Esquire Magazine / Japan)
2010 SENSING NATURE (Heibonsha / Japan)
2010 TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA (Rizzoli / USA)
2013 TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA_Crystallize (Seigensha / Japan)
2017 KOU-AN Glass Tea House (Kyuryudo / Japan)
References
External links
Japanese industrial designers
Japanese furniture designers
Japanese interior designers
Exhibition designers
Japanese installation artists
People from Saga Prefecture
1967 births
Living people