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"Working like a living exhibition" where you can experience the future work style proposed by ITOKI will be held at Karimoku Commons Tokyo from December 7th
In addition to exhibiting the design process and models of "vertebra03 WOOD" and "hako" released this winter, you can also experience the products yourself.
ITOKI CORPORATION (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Koji Minato) will hold the "Working Like Living" exhibition* at Karimoku Commons Tokyo from Thursday, December 7, 2023 to Friday, January 12, 2024. The wooden work chair "vertebra 03 WOOD," designed by product designer Fumie Shibata and created in collaboration with Karimoku Furniture, combines the warmth of wood with ergonomics, and the portable battery "hako," which has a beautiful appearance like a paper box. A space will be opened for a limited time where you can experience the work style "Working Like Living" proposed through the two newly released products.
- The event name is used with permission from Kenta Nakamura, author of "Working Like Living"
source: https://shigoto100.com/book-ikiruyounihataraku
WORK-Style more free in Japan.
In 1981, Itoki released the work chair "Vertebra", whose name means "spinal cord" in Latin. Designed by world-famous designer Emilio Ambas and his partner at the time, the concept of this product, created through a technical partnership with Dutch company OpenArc, is ``an office chair that puts people first.'' "Vertebra" is equipped with innovative features based on ergonomics and biomechanics, such as a backrest that flexibly supports the spinal cord and a seat that tilts forward according to the movement of the body.At the time, Vertebra was a vinyl work chair. It brought a new concept of comfort and design to the Japanese office, which was once the mainstream.
Nowadays, work styles are increasingly diversified and liberalized. Advances in technology and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic have significantly changed social norms and people's values regarding how and where to work, and we are now in an era where you can work anytime and anywhere as long as you have a digital device and an internet connection. In 2019, such a wide variety of work styles began to expand in earnest. Together with product designer Fumie Shibata, we have brought to the world the work chair "vertebra 03", which is a new platform that will be needed in the future and crosses the border between WORK-Style and "living".
ITOKI has recently developed two new products as a response to today's increasingly diversified and liberalized work styles. ``vertebra 03 WOOD'' is a collaboration with Karimoku Furniture that takes advantage of Itoki's unique ergonomics and adds the warmth of wood to ``vertebra 03''. The other is the portable battery ``hako,'' which allows you to work casually without being tied to a power source.
In this exhibition, we will open a space for a limited time where you can experience ``a form of working that feels like living.'' At the venue, the design process and development story of the two products will also be visualized. This is an event where you can actually touch the product, sit and experience it, along with photos and stories from the time of development. Please look forward to the future work styles proposed by ITOKI.
``The way we work has changed significantly due to changes in the way we work.By leveraging the knowledge and technology of manufacturers and putting in the effort, we can create new value that is not available in conventional office chairs.For example, the vertebra 03 If that's the case, you can also combine natural materials such as wood.As a designer, I feel it's meaningful to have created a chair with a sense of freedom that suits today's working styles.''
(Product designer Fumie Shibata)
Exhibition products
■vertebra 03 WOOD (Vertebra Zero Sunwood)
Adding the warmth of wood to ergonomics. Future options that expand your creativity
Featuring the warmth of wood and Itoki's unique ergonomics, "vertebra 03 WOOD" is the long-awaited latest model in the series that expands the office environment and the consciousness of workers more freely and flexibly as they change with the times. Under the supervision of Karimoku Furniture, we have achieved the optimal three-dimensional shape of the back and seat that follows the work posture, just like the previous model. It maintains an appearance that blends in with living spaces, an ergonomic mechanism that provides comfort, and expandability that can be freely customized to suit the individuality of the user and the space, while also maintaining the texture and warmth unique to solid chestnut wood, a domestically produced hardwood. You can taste it.
■hako
A portable battery that harmonizes with your space and has a simple beauty that does not limit your location.
"Hako" is a beautiful portable battery that blends in with the space when in use, when carrying, and when charging. The simple and compact form has a strap on the back, making it easy to carry when moving from place to place for online meetings. The colors are adjusted to a certain tone, such as colors that go well with interiors and colors that match the image of paper. By reducing the gloss, we have achieved a design that is not gadget-like and does not draw attention to the design.
Click here for product press release
Product development secrets are being published in "vertebra 03 journal"
On the journal page developed on the special page for vertebra 03, we are publishing the secrets behind the product development of "vertebra 03 WOOD" and "hako".
Part 1 https://vertebra.jp/journal/791/
Part 2 https://vertebra.jp/journal/800/
Exhibition Overview
| name | Exhibition of forms that work like living |
|---|---|
| Period | Thursday, December 7, 2023 - Friday, January 12, 2024 *Excluding Sundays and New Year holidays from December 28th (Thursday) to January 7th (Sunday) |
| business hours | 12:00～18:00 |
| place | Karimoku Commons Tokyo 1F Gallery Space 2-22-5 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031 10 minutes walk from Tokyo Metro Omotesando Station Exit A5 https://commons.karimoku.com |
| Sponsored by | ITOKI CORPORATION |
| Sponsorship | Product designer Fumie Shibata Karimoku Furniture Co., Ltd. |
| cooperation | Styling Ms. Fumiko Sakuhara Art direction: Shohei Iida Edited by Takahiro Shibata |
| Admission fee | free |
[FUMIE SHIBATA]
We are currently working on projects with domestic and overseas manufacturers, including electronic products, daily necessities, medical equipment, and total hotel direction. He has received awards such as iF Gold Award (Germany), Red Dot Design Award, Mainichi Design Award, G Mark Gold Award, Asian Design Award Grand Prize, Cultural Special Award, and Gold Award. Professor at Tama Art University and chairperson of the 2018-2019 Good Design Award Judging Committee. He is the author of ``Another form inside one form''.
[Sakuhara Fumiko/FUMIKO SAKUHARA]
Interior stylist. After studying under Michiko Iwatate, she became independent in 1996. Mainly focusing on styling for magazines, advertisements, catalogs, TV-CMs, exhibitions, shop displays, film art, etc., and also working in a wide range of areas such as directing new projects for companies, and is active on the front lines as an interior stylist in Japan. Her unique styling, which utilizes her flexible sensibilities and mixes various tastes, is well-received by both men and women. For his project "mountain morning," he also develops original items with photographers, shops, brands, and artists he has close relationships with. It also holds irregular exhibitions and markets that embody its worldview.
[About Karimoku Furniture]
The origins of Karimoku Furniture date back to 1940, when founder Shohei Kato took over a long-standing lumber shop and started a small woodworking shop in Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture. They honed their skills by producing a variety of wooden products, and in the 1960s began selling their own wooden furniture. Advocating a manufacturing concept of "high-tech & high-touch" that combines advanced mechanical technology and craftsmanship, the company built a foundation in the wood production field and grew to become one of Japan's leading wooden furniture manufacturers.
About Itoki's Workplace Business
Since its founding in 1890, ITOKI CORPORATION has upheld the mission statement of "We Design Tomorrow. We Design WORK-Style." and has supported the creation of a wide range of “Space," “Environment," and “Place" with a wide lineup of office furniture, logistics equipment, ICT and audiovisual equipment, and building materials and interior equipment.
After the coronavirus shock, we consider the entire working space to “Work Environment”," and in addition to products and services that create an environment where office workers can "work together," we are also providing "dispersion" of home furnishings to facilitate remote work and home learning We support the creation of a “Work Environment” in any space by providing a comprehensive range of products that support the working environment, as well as surveys and consulting services for companies' work style strategies and working environment improvements.
To this release
Contact information
ITOKI CORPORATION
Product Management Department
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Contact information
ITOKI CORPORATION
Public Relations and Investor Relations Department
TEL: 03-6910-3910
- The information posted is current at the time of publication. Please note that the information may differ from the latest information.