Craftsman Mochizuki Tsutomu has had some interesting projects even before he got involved in fabricating those limited edition sushi blocks from yesterday.
Mochizuki's firm is called Ninomiya Glashaus, and it's in the Tokyo sprawl of Kanagawa-ken. Which is the location of the early project that included the kid's desk and chair above, made from shina plywood [from the linden family, an alternative to birch] with African Padauk accents.
Other than excellent finish and materials, it's about as basic as you can get. Which sounds fine with me. There are several other pieces with the same material & finish from the same time, and I wonder if this is stuff Mochizuki made for his own house, and his own kid. Woodworkers' kids always get the best minimalist desks.
Mochizuki also teaches part-time at Jiyu Gakuen, a historic and highly influential progressive school in Tokyo. The school's probably most famous for its cork blocks, which became an educational toy thing in Japan, and for a campus designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which is now too landmarky, and is mostly used for weddings.
Anyway, for a couple of years, 2007-08, at least, Mochizuki led the high school classes in the design and construction of "fractal animals," giant wood sculptures assembled from small pieces of lumber. Even if they don't meet the literal definition of fractal, they are pretty sweet. Check out the rest in Glashaus's portfolio page.
NINOMIYA Glashaus [glashaus.jp]
Previously: Sushi Blocks
