WHEN DESIGN AND CRAFTSMANSHIP MEET
Exclusive “Crafted for Lexus” lifestyle product line to include Lexus Design Award winning works
- Lexus furthers its commitment to nurturing up-and-coming designers under the Lexus Design Award program, by including two of their creations in the Crafted for Lexus line
- Both creations exemplify Takumi craftsmanship and innovative design, which are at the core of what the Lexus brand stands for
- Inaho and World Clock, will soon be available at select locations where guests experience the Lexus brand
Lexus today announced that it is making two of the winning works from its Lexus Design Award exclusively available under its Crafted for Lexus line. An international competition, the program was created to nurture up-and-coming designers who use design to build a better future for individuals and society. Today, Lexus further expands its support to the designers by offering two of their winning works through the exclusive Crafted for Lexus line. “The Crafted for Lexus line is a curated collection of items that reflects our brand’s values of artisan craftsmanship and design innovation. Adding new items that are the outcome of our Lexus Design Award is a great way for us to further support emerging and talented creators.” said Spiros Fotinos, Head of Global Branding and Marketing for Lexus.
Inaho Lighting
Inaho, which means “ear of rice” in Japanese, is an interior lighting fixture that mimics the slow, swaying movement of ears of rice swaying with the wind in a rice field. From the pliant, lightweight carbon fiber used for the stems, to the countless perforations precise to the 0.1mm that help produce a warm golden-hued glow, and the wooden panel, from which the stems grow, each component contributes to creating a relaxing atmosphere. To ensure a high level of craftsmanship, the creators of Inaho used the same wood panel material used in Lexus vehicles for its base.
World Clock
The twelve-angle-shaped World Clock displays the local time in twelve different cities across the world each time it is rolled. Its minimalist exterior design, a characteristic inherent in creations from its designer, Masafumi Ishikawa, emphasizes the level of craftsmanship that went into this unique World Clock. To build the clock’s face, Ishikawa used the same carbon fiber panel also found in Lexus performance vehicles.
Both products will be made available exclusively at select Lexus outlets starting Fall 2018. Initially, these products will be available at the Intersect by Lexus brand experience space in Tokyo’s Aoyama district, and will later be available in other Lexus guest experience spaces across the globe.
Now in its seventh year, Lexus Design Award is accepting submissions for Lexus Design Award 2019. Call for entries ends on October 28, 2018.
ABOUT PRODCUTS
Inaho
Inaho, a Lexus Design Award 2013 finalist is an interior lighting fixture inspired by golden ears of rice swaying in the wind. The lighting installation aims to remove oneself from the noisy city by creating the pleasant sensation of being surrounded by nature. Every material used was carefully selected to achieve Inaho’s slow swaying movement when people walk by such as the pliant lightweight carbon fiber stems. Inaho is also crafted with other precision details such as the digitally controlled swaying motion programmed to move every 0.01 second and the countless tiny perforations in the tip of the “ear of rice” meticulously designed down to the last 0.1mm. The warm glow that emanate from those holes cast the room with a golden hue, creating beautiful shadows reminiscent of rice hulls. The carbon fiber stems “grow” from a wooden panel base that uses the same materials found in Lexus vehicles. The base also features metallic powder that is manually imbedded in the wood grain to create the effect of a sea of clouds glistening in the sunlight, offering a poetic image of ears of rice growing tall out of waves of clouds. Inaho is a light design work that not only lights up the room, but warms the hearts of those who see it as well. These are ears of rice that can bring a bountiful harvest to your daily life.
Designer: Tangent
“We want to create products that take people’s feelings into consideration and emanate a gentle, supportive presence.” This is the concept behind Tangent (named after the tangent line), a brand based in London. Tangent was founded by Hideki Yoshimoto, a design engineer who completed a degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Tokyo before studying design at the Royal College of Art. Tangent handles industrial materials like carbon and metals in the same way as naturally-derived materials like wood and glass, in order to create craftworks that tug at people’s heartstrings. Their approach of combining engineering and design without being weighed down by tradition offers a glimpse into the potential of modern craftsmanship.
World Clock
A finalist at the Lexus Design Award 2013, The World Clock is a timepiece that allows you to tell the current time around the world just by rolling it. The clock was created by designer Masafumi Ishikawa when he lived in the US and thought about his friends and family back in Japan. Within the 12-angle dodecagonal shape, the clock displays the time of 12 cities around the world including Tokyo, New York, and Dubai where INTERSECT BY LEXUS (brand exhibition spaces of Lexus) are located. Rather than an advanced GPS sensor or complex internal mechanisms, the device tells international time by making a small change in the way you think – by simply rotating the clock itself instead of the hands on the face. The face’s dial plate also utilizes the same carbon fiber used on Lexus sports cars. This carbon fiber, while seemingly simple, is actually interwoven meticulously by human hands. The materials used in the World Clock highlights the clock’s minimal design and craftsmanship.
Designer: MASAFUMI ISHIKAWA Design
Be it for your office, a hotel room on your business trip, or for your home kitchen, the brand designs and puts into shape things that you casually wish were available around you in your daily life. Masafumi Ishikawa is a product designer who can transform the most mundane things like your watch, suitcase, or chopsticks, into something novel with his unique perspectives. And when seeing the materialized product, its simple appearance and minimal structure is sure to surprise you even more. Ishikawa thrives on his desire as a designer to “turn small discoveries that only he was able to make into products” combined with the experience of designing sink/bathroom-related products for many years. He observes the everyday scenery and imagines what it would be like to be there from the user’s perspective. That attitude makes it possible to give birth to products that lead to a more fruitful lifestyle.