Yuji Tanabe’s wooden chair realises the dream of sitting on a cloud

The ideal addition to the Flintstones' antediluvian stone home would probably be a chair made of enormous stones or a set of wooden clubs if they were still alive today. Japanese architect and industrial designer based in Kamakura, Yuji Tanabe, has come up with an exciting design, the Pop Cloud Chair, that might be the perfect fit for a playful interior setting. Designed using Japanese cypress wood, the multi-faceted chair design might look slightly cramped at first, but what makes it stand out from other sculptural designs that are mass-produced is its creative appeal. The design is the brainchild of Tanabe with help from Momonotane, a Japan-based manufacturing company and Pivoto, a design team based in Kyoto.

As an inspiration and promotion for the Japanese cypress wood of Maniwa City, Okayama Prefecture, Tanabe conceptualised the pop cloud chair exclusively with wood. “I thought about how to show the beauty of the wood grain first. If it is round and has thick and thin parts, the beauty of the wood grain will be highlighted. And by composing segments while paying attention to the overall balance, shadows are created,” says Tanabe. The designer’s creative conscience struck a chord when he identified the boundary between a sculpture and a chair, blurring it to fabricate a chair that is simple and chiselled, while backed up with in-depth research into the sculpting the wooden parts, directions and angles.

The Pop Cloud was created by the Japanese designer using finely sanded clubs and gourds made of wood that follow a pattern of assembly to shape up the chair. As the name goes, the outcome of the arrangement is such that the final product design resembles a foaming wood-carved cloud. The method of assembly involves a main club-shaped member with four holes that fit into the other rotating parts, further balanced in place with two more members. The chair appears to be suitable for many different poses, even though it has an apparent solid wood frame and no padding.

The pop cloud’s felicitous structure emanates a very conspicuous apparition exuding a sense of wonder about–the purpose, shape and elemental references backing the concept. The size of the chair appears well suited for children as a sculptural furniture piece; however, it holds scope to fit the older audience. As a sculptural furniture design piece, the size of the chair appears well suited for children; however, it holds scope to fit the older audience. The production process involved constant coordination with the craftsmen and woodworkers alongside an assemblage of technical details and drawings that Tanabe produced on Autocad 3D and Rhinoceros. Availability of various sized wood lathes and the holding capacity of the wood lathe machines will determine how the chair will be shaped.

Yuji Tanabe’s design practice is often characterised by a vivid, creative and minimal vibe. Gaining sources of creative inspiration from his immediate surroundings, Tanabe says,” I draw inspiration from everyday life. I live with the perspective of how things are made on various scales.” Tanabe has been practising architecture and industrial design for over two decades with designs ranging from the Long Roof House in Japan and a flexible working spaceー Work x action in Karuizawa to his playful puzzle-like Twin MDF chairs and now the Pop Cloud chair. All of his multidisciplinary designs have their narratives but are tied together with the single thread of the minimal design and sophisticated Japanese essence.