Sori Yanagi

Sori Yanagi (1915-2011) was one of the great founding fathers of Japanese design. The figure of him embodies a bridge between the Western culture of design, steeped in functionalism and the search for modernity, and the centuries-old Japanese artistic tradition with its attention to the harmony of forms. This synthesis begins to mature in the years immediately following his studies in painting and architecture at the University of Tokyo, when he has the opportunity to work for two years (from 1940 to 1942) for the great French designer Charlotte Perriand, active in Japan at the time. . He lives the pioneering years of the spread of the concept of design in Japan, with the victory of the first prize at the first edition of the "Japanese competition for industrial design" in 1951 and the foundation, together with other colleagues, of the Japan Industrial Designers Association in 1952. He was also one of the first Japanese designers to make himself known abroad: his Butterfly stool, produced by Tendo Mokko, was awarded the Gold Medal at the XI Triennale di Milano in 1957. Very attentive to the Japanese artisan tradition he also designed several tea sets and tableware ceramics, as well as being in charge of the construction of the Olympic Torches for the Tokyo 1964 Summer Olympics and the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics. His most famous creations are now re-edited by Vitra.