uchiwa days

'a pattern is a picture of the essence of an object, an object's very life; its beauty is of that life'

The Unknown Craftsman, Soetsu Yanagi

in the heat i turn to uchiwa. on one kyoto tourist website, they describe the uchiwa most excellently as the japanese 'casual breeze-making tool of choice'. a more prosaic description would maybe read; flat, non-folding japanese fan with printed patterns on silk or paper stretched over a bamboo frame.

the uchiwa pictured here are from mingei fukuda, a store that features traditional japanese crafts. the pattern designer is serizawa keisuke. serizawa was a leading artisan of the mingei* movement in japan and was named a living national treasure by the Emporer in 1956. am not sure about you, but the concept that japan endows its artists and artisans with the honour of living national treasure makes me very happy.

*mingei is the term for what is popularly known as folkart, or 'art of the people' ('min' meaning all people and 'gei' meaning art). the term mingei was coined by the movement's founder, yanagi soetsu. i am currently nurturing a bit of an obsession with yanagi's influential book the unknown craftsman and will certainly be posting more on his philosophy of beauty.

hell, yes

a trip to NY, and on an architect lead, saw the new museum designed by sejima and nishizawa/SANAA. the wonderful photo of the architects themselves comes from this designboom interview, which has great insightful and cute questions (do you have any pets?) and more pictures of their projects. the below are holiday snaps of the new museum.

nunoworks

riding through the very back streets of the nishijin quarter in kyoto you hear loom-clacking in the twilight. in nishijin, that sound is the echo of generations of silk obi weaving; nunoworks creates beautiful hand printed textiles of modern japan.

tawashi

so this is tawashi. for cleaning pots and plates in an environmentally responsible and cute japanese crafty way. we got some lovely ones from a little shop front near fushimi-inari in kyoto, and i now see that the crafty masters love these. okinawa otter does tawashi and girl on the rocks also has a good post on them.

ginza

i am not sure of a greater simple joy than a new magazine waiting on your doorstep. a cup of tea and the new ginza. the designers are high end, but like looking at the sun then looking away, to have a residual impression of ginza fabric, cuts and style makes me see a new world of potential in the acres of savers and the brotherhood aisles.

all above photos from feb 09 ginza. top two designs are junya watanabe (comme des garcons) the sequins are dries van norten.

train to osaka

anyone who works in an office or has attended a seminar knows the pain of the powerpoint. when struggling for a new way to say what we need to, my workmate found this wonderful blog by garr reynolds on presentation design. the above is a great example of japanese train poster campaigns and the below is the 'takahashi method' of powerpoint: make it large.

kasa

on these searing summer days, what one needs is a parasol. ii-da-kasaten makes beautiful ones, for art and the sun.

sori yanagi

eating summer pesto pasta with my sori yanagi fork. a perfectly weighted wonder.

ee-tee's origami

so windy in melbourne. least favourite of all the elements, when it is in its gusty mood. wind, rock, paper, scissors. now here is something beautiful and elemental. ee-tee's origami.

shokubutsu and kohii

the most lovely shop in kyoto. miho sells rare plants and prime coffee beans in a little shop halfway up a hill in higashiyama. she doesn't have a website that i know of yet, sorry.