Brand
Lampshades Evolved from Origami
INNOVATIVE CRAFTWORKS
- 2022
- KYO HYOGU (ART MOUNTINGS)
- Takuya Kinami
History
Hyogu Rrepresenting Kyoto, Japan.
Innovative Craftworks is a Kyoto-based company that develops, manufactures, and sells KYO Hyogu products.
Hyogu, which has been handed down from generation to generation since the Nara period (710-794), is a traditional technique of applying cloth or paper to books and paintings to reinforce them, making them beautiful and sturdy.
Typical examples include hanging scrolls, frames, folding screens, and sliding doors.
Because Japan has four distinct seasons and a humid climate, our ancestors combined their wisdom to create techniques for preserving objects.
In Kyoto, where many temples and shrines have existed since ancient times and religion has flourished, the traditional technique of "Kyo Hyogu" was born, in which sutras and paintings were reinforced by applying cloth to them.
I am the third generation of the Adachi Hyogu store, which has been in business for 97 years, and I have inherited this technique.
However, I worry that the recent decline in the number of Japanese-style houses and living spaces would make this ancient technique obsolete, so I decided to take a new step forward by starting this brand.
Characteristic
A fusion of origami and lighting as conceived by a Kyo-Hogu master
In 2017, I participated in a forum project of the Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries and embarked on a new product development project with Mr.
Hiroshi Hirase, a designer of traditional crafts.
Hirase's idea of "matching origami with Hyogu" and my keyword "frameless lighting" came together to create "Settouka," a lampshade made of origami.
The most difficult part was choosing materials.
Since the concept was frameless lighting, the lampshade had to be sturdy enough to support the entire piece, but it would be too thick and heavy and would not allow light to pass through.
After much trial and error, a thin, light, and strong karakami was created by sandwiching resin between sheets of washi.
The lights, which are folded by hand by a master of Kyo Hyogu, are truly an evolution of bonbori, a type of traditional Japanese paper lantern.
When the lights are off, the traditional patterns printed on the woodblocks by the KYO-karakami craftsmen appear as sparkles, but when the lights are turned on, the patterns instantly turn to shadows, inviting the viewer into a fantastic world.
For Customers
A new form of lighting that is neither Japanese nor Western
"Setto-ka" is a completely new brand of lampshade that is neither Japanese nor Western, born from the merging of Japan's proud traditional techniques and state-of-the-art technology.
Experts in the fields of Kyo Hyogu, origami, washi paper, avant-garde design, and cutting-edge technology were involved in the development of this new product, which has undergone a series of improvements.
The most distinctive feature of this product is that it has no frame.
When light passes through it, the folds of the origami paper emerge as exquisite shadows.
And by passing the sharp light of the bulb through the Washi paper shade, a soft and gentle space is created.
Each shade is designed to be used in various ways, as a pendant (hanging type), bracket (wall-mounted type), or tabletop type, making it suitable for both Japanese and Western-style rooms.
We will do our best to deliver one-of-a-kind, uncompromising products to people around the world, and we hope you will take a look at them in person.
