Shiro Kuramata

Japanese furniture and interior designer Shiro Kuramata was considered one of the most original designers of the last third of the twentieth century. He used industrial materials, such as steel mesh, acrylic, and glass to create surprising effects, often playing with transparency and dematerialization. Kuramata studied traditional woodcrafting techniques at Tokyo Municipal Polytechnic High School and studied interior design at the Kuwazawa Institute of Design until 1956. He worked at the Teikokukizai furniture factory in 1953, going on to work in the interior design departments of several Japanese department stores in the late 1950s-early 1960s. In 1965, he opened his own design studio in Tokyo. His early... more.