Keiji Ashizawa
Japan
Keiji Ashizawa (born in 1973) lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from Yokohama National University in 1995, he spent the first ten years of his career working as both an architect and steel fabricator. The unique skills and experience gained throughout these early years, including a valued understanding of metals, continue to influence his approach to design.
Keiji Ashizawa presents works of ‘honest’ design – simple yet refined, thoughtful and of a light kind – derived naturally through the process of attempting to maximise the potential of each material and its function. He excels in applying these ideas to projects of various scales, from furniture and lighting design to architecture and exhibition design.
His furniture and lighting have been exhibited internationally since 2001.
In 2011, Ashizawa was awarded a ‘Special Award’ by the Japan Institute of Design for his principal participation in the inception of Ishinomaki Laboratory – a DIY furniture workshop established in Ishinomaki, Japan, after it was devastated by the tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake. In 2015, the Ishinomaki stool from Ishinomaki laboratory entered the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
http://ishinomaki-lab.org/en/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7ROmvjuCeI
Landscape – Furniture