As interior design trends continue to shift from stark minimalist aesthetics to spaces with more warmth and character, On: Design looks at some products that can bring new life to bare walls.
Background art
Kyoji, a collective of 10 craft companies ranging from daruma doll and textile makers to metalsmiths and jewelers, aims to highlight the versatility and precision of Japanese artisanship with contemporary products. The initiative’s newest lineup, Ma_do Fragments Wall Art, however, celebrates the artisans’ materials and techniques with an unusual use of off-cuts, experimental samples and other small objects selected from factories and workshops.
Ma_do — a play on the Japanese word “mado” for “window” — is a series of glassless, stainless steel box frames designed by Katsuyama Motonori and made by metalworkers Sasage Kogyo. For the Fragments Wall Art collection, each circular, square or triangular frame features an item from one of Kyoji’s 10 collaborating companies. It’s a meticulously curated series that involved factory visits and discussions with artisans to decide which objects embody their skilled craftsmanship. Though at first glance they may seem ordinary, the final selection, which includes wood box parts, swatches of textiles and metal offcuts, are transformed by the frames into unusual, abstract artworks.
Every Ma_do frame complements its object’s shape. Kyoji chose square frames to showcase a piece of raw canvas from traditional maekake apron makers Anything; a lacquer-embellished swatch of deerskin from leatherworkers Inden Yamamoto; paulownia box parts made by Hakoyoshi; and a rectangular off-cut from cutlery makers Yamazaki. The curves of a papier-mache doll fragment by Daruma Naya, a wire frame by Sasage Kogyo and a round piece of holographic fabric woven by Marunaka are matched with circular frames, while elongated samples from jewelry makers Ishitomo and bamboo artisans Sochikuan are housed in triangles.
The items are suspended on transparent thread hung from a coiled wire structure behind the Ma_do, a feature that also allows the frames to be slotted together into different combinations.
Simply smart
This month, design store H Concept’s +D brand released a remarkably versatile wall pin — an idea that reminds us that even the tiniest and mundane things can still benefit from a thoughtful redesign. Conceived by Akasaki Vanuyse, a London-based studio established last year by Kenta Akasaki and Astrid Vanuys, the Pli pin’s simplicity belies its conscientious and architectural design.
Named after the French word for “bend,” the Pli is made from a short length of 0.8-millimeter-thick high-strength, stainless steel wire bent into a U shape. The delicate hook shape allows it to be used to hang objects up to approximately 1 kilogram, as well as tack paper or cards to a wall. Virtually invisible to the eye when pushed into a surface, its discreet, two-dimensional form also ensures that if any are dropped, their sharp points will never stick upward and cause an accident.
A smooth, folded-over edge to the thumb tack also makes it easier to handle and prevents damage to hung items, while the hook shape can be used to support postcards or leaflets from above and beneath without the need to actually puncture them.
An extra wall
For people in need of a little extra storage space, creative unit Tent and metalworkers Koshi Industry have developed a portable, multifunctional miniwall, complete with a countertop that can be used as a standing desk or workbench.
Wall for One was designed to help change any space’s mood and environment. A sturdy steel frame set on casters, it can be tucked away in a corner and wheeled out to be used as a partition when needed. Its walls of perforated pegboard are customizable with a range of original, attachable wire hooks, including a rounded cup holder and a ledge-like book stand.
Tent and Koshin Sangyo suggest Wall for One be used to hang kitchen utensils and household tools, keep hobby supplies or office stationery tidy, or showcase pictures, books, vases, ornaments and plants. In stores, it can serve as a display unit or sales counter; and at events, it makes for a compact lectern.
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