Ishinomaki Laboratory will present a new collection of products developed in collaboration with three international designers.
Over the 15 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Ishinomaki Laboratory has made products centred on furniture for everyday life, from tables and benches to chairs and sofas. Drawing on the knowledge and experience gained through years of furniture making, this exhibition explores a slightly different approach and scale, presenting a collection of objects designed to move freely through the home and adapt to different uses in daily life.
The three new products are the BOX STOOL by Lausanne-based design studio BIG-GAME; the STUDIO TROLLEY by Stockholm-based TAF Studio; and the RA BIRD by Daniel Schofield, who works between London and Copenhagen. Bringing together different perspectives, the exhibition explores how Ishinomaki Laboratory’s approach to making continues to create new possibilities.
The products are manufactured in collaboration with Karimoku Furniture using GLT (Gathered Laminated Timber), a wood material developed to make the most effective use possible of hardwood sourced from Japan’s satoyama landscapes. By making effective use of regional timber resources, the project aims to reduce environmental impact while continuing to support a sustainable relationship between forests and manufacturing.
Both the BOX STOOL and STUDIO TROLLEY can be disassembled for compact packaging. As well as reducing the environmental impact of shipping, this construction reflects the DIY spirit that has been central to Ishinomaki Laboratory from the beginning: assembling an object yourself, moving it yourself, and using it wherever you need it.
Product: BOX STOOL
Designer: BIG-GAME
BIG-GAME is a design studio founded in 2004 by Grégoire Jeanmonod, Elric Petit and Augustin Scott de Martinville. Along with their design practice, the three founders of BIG-GAME are also professors at the ECAL/University of Arts and Design in Lausanne, and won the Swiss Federal Design Award in 2006 and 2010. The three designers draw on a vast repertory of ideas and put them nonchalantly into unexpected contexts, following the credo “Confrontation is giving birth to progress”.
https://big-game.ch/
Product: STUDIO TROLLEY
Designer: TAF Studio
Founded in Stockholm in 2002 by Gabriella Lenke and Mattias Ståhlbom, TAF is a design studio whose work is closely rooted in everyday life. With deep knowledge of materials and a strong interest in the relationship between craft and industrial processes, the studio creates objects that feel familiar and intuitive, with the aim of becoming lasting essentials in daily life. TAF has collaborated with a wide range of international brands, including Artek, Muuto and String Furniture.
https://tafstudio.se/
Product: RA BIRD
Designer: Daniel Schofield
Often found sketching on a scrap of paper, Daniel has a background in graphic design and carpentry. Originally from the UK, he is now based in Copenhagen.
Finding beauty in simplicity, he creates work that is utilitarian yet quietly charming - objects that are both useful and endearing, designed to be valued, and to remain part of your life for a long time.
https://daniel-schofield.com/
Exhibition Information
Title | Moving Forward
Dates | 17 October (Sat) – 15 November (Sun), 2026, 10:00–18:30
DESIGNART TOKYO 2026 | 30 October (Fri) – 8 November (Sun), 2026
Venue | dotcom space Tokyo
B1, Erindale Jingumae, 1-19-19 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Admission | Free
Co-organised by | ISHINOMAKI LABORATORY / Keiji Ashizawa Design
With the support by | dotcom space Tokyo
Exhibition & Graphic Design | Keiji Ashizawa Design
Styling | Yumi Nakata