KANA ARIOKA
LETTER PER LETTER
LETTER PER LETTER is ongoing research on process in development.
The constant movements of prototype invite us to the journey.
The journey into a new prism of reading.
Where do we belong to… a series of small objects and the hands that constantly move them
seek to unearth ideas and imagination.
Each of the 26 letter type studies based on (un)foldable soft-joint system is freely explored
and offer a great number of possibilities, including the direction of future products starting
from objects, furniture till spatial configurations.
Exhibition at MAD Brussels, 2024.09.27 - 2024.11.16
Drawing title from left to right: LETTER PER LETTER_FOLDED, UNFOLDED, OQS_object, G_room, LMHFT_column, Y_stool and partition, X_shelf, W_partition and stool, T_bracket, F_corridor
FOLD UN FOLD
FOLD UN FOLD is a free design platform for exploring sense of space.
It is an attempt to visualize our daily rituals, behavior and human relationship around objects.
Daring that these continuous series of rituals create a HOMESCAPE,
as continuous woven experiences in knitted time.
If we take a look at ‘The Lived-in House’,
we find an ‘event’ emerging at the centre of the house,
and the behaviour of ‘things’ that keeps
appearing and disappearing are related to this event,
and only the ‘places’ for them emerge in a sequence.*
* quoted by ‘The Lived-in House’, Koji Taki, Seidosha, 1976
The performative short movie showing the universe of FOLD UN FOLD has been presented during Milan Design Week 2024 together with the furniture pieces.
FOLD UN FOLD #2_001 OCTAGON_stools and wearable
The wearables worn by the performers and the stools are made from the exact same pattern of fabric. Here, the boundary that separates the act of wearing and sitting becomes blurred, exposing our human behaviour itself and attempting to explore sense of space.
FOLD UN FOLD #2_001 OCTAGON_stools
Green and Orange Octagon stools have been exhibited at Fuori Salone, during Milan Design Week 16-21 April 2024.
FOLD UN FOLD #2_002 RECTANGLE couch and daybed
Couch and Daybed has been exhibited at Fuori Salone during Milan Design Week 16-21 April 2024.
Couch and Daybed.
Or rather, almost Couch and almost Daybed.
These pieces are made with the simple gesture of folding a rectangular form. Like children's drawing. With freedom and playfulness.
We dance around the chairs. The chairs, even the chairs dance around.
The relationship between subject and object becomes literally mutual.
By dancing around, we find a space to be. A place to be. A position of the body. To sit. To sleep or to read…
When the human body acts on an object, it transforms from a two-dimensional rectangle form into a chair.
This rectangular series of furniture is foldable by means of the hinge system made of soft material that plays a crucial structural role.
FOLD UN FOLD_#2_000: POSITION is about designing the act of positioning our body into space, such as sitting and lying down. The light foldable textile based furniture allows us to customize its form and find the comfort by ourselves.
The project consists of three pieces of furniture made from exactly the same equilateral octagon in textile, which transform from a two-dimensional rug into a three-dimensional couch/chair/stool/hammock. The question on how to position ourselves is here reflected in the exploration of a graphical language of fluid furniture that allows the human body to be positioned in space.
MON ÎLE _ France, 2023
This installation was a challenge on how far artificial intervention in a natural setting can be recognized not only as an acceptable landscape, but also as an architectural spatial exploration.
Five trees stand near the old Japanese house. One of them, however, was nothing more than a hollow hole that left traces of where a tree had been planted. There, a signpost has been installed, that would become the fifth tree. The one that was supposed to show us the path is just turning and losing its direction. It is like a windmill, but it is not turned by the wind. By approaching it and turning it with own hands, the way was sought.
The signpost told me that there is the island. A large fallen tree. White flowers blooming around it. Let's make a home there.
For this architectural intervention, only black and white colors were used. Because nature is full of colors. The entrance, reminiscent of a front door. Vertical columns. A window frame. A round table with a white tablecloth. The three benches remind us of a space like engawa, the threshold between house and garden. Sitting there, one can see a glimpse of the creek at the end of the gently sloping field. That would be enough.
Little by little, architectural elements have been added, to bring out the power of the beautiful fallen tree and the flowers around it. Suddenly, the time comes when nothing more could be added.
This is my island.