Shiro Kuramata

An influ­en­tial and prolific designer from Japan, Shiro Kura­mata created furni­ture and inte­ri­ors that often bridged the Eastern and Western design worlds. Born in 1934 in Japan, Kura­mata opened his own design firm, Kura­mata Design Office in Tokyo around 1965. His work was so impor­tant that he was tapped by Cappellini as the designer who would launch their brand onto the inter­na­tional stage by featur­ing his work in Memphis for the first time in 1987. Kuramata’s furni­ture often featured indus­trial mate­ri­als, includ­ing wire, steel mesh, lucite, aluminum, hand­blown lead crystal, or paper flowers (see his Miss Blanche Chair as an example). His work is displayed in the perma­nent collec­tions of museums around the world, includ­ing Musee Arts Deco­rat­ifs in Paris, MoMA in New York, Museum of Modern Art in Tayama, and the Victo­ria and Albert Museum in London.