The natural manifestations of growth are all around us. Plants grow, live and die, returning their nutrients to the soil – a perfect cycle of endless energy. Rivers cut through the rocks, forming new streams that offer less resistance as gravity pulls forever downward. Trees, our protectors of air and soil, also grow in different directions, depending on the conditions and nutrients present. Made from branches collected from Tokyo trees and local parks, Uneri with Sotanaka celebrates this unique development.
Treating the pieces as unique parts of a whole rather than separate elements, one can almost imagine shoots of greenery that could sprout from the tips of the branches. The seats and backs are delicately rendered, a whimsical organism that permeates the entire collection. As it takes much longer to learn the rules than it does to learn to break them, attention to analogy and gesture is essential to understanding the magic behind Uneri, a pattern of life frozen in time.
Wabi-sabi combines two interrelated concepts: wabi and sabi. Although there are many translations, wabi can be translated as “subdued, austere beauty” and sabi as “rustic patina”. As this tenet is essential to Japanese design culture, each element is purposefully placed and collected from materials that might otherwise be discarded. A careful examination of process and product combine to offer a moving ode to our natural world.
Founded in 2020 by designer Soichiro Tanaka, based in Tokyo, Sotanaka works to deepen our relationships with the products that surround us. Each project is an opportunity to understand these relationships even better, to help us interact more easily with our environment and, ultimately, with each other.
To learn more about Uneri by Sotanaka, visit sotanaka.com.
Photo courtesy of Sotanaka.
