Ichiro Iwasaki draws tableware, watches, lighting, furniture and cameras

Most studios narrow down. Ichiro Iwasaki did the opposite, and states the range plainly: tableware, watches, lighting and furniture, alongside electronic devices such as digital cameras and mobile phones. Born in Tokyo in 1965, he began at the Sony Design Center, moved to Italy to work in Milanese studios, and founded IWASAKI DESIGN STUDIO in Tokyo in 1995. That spread is unusual because the disciplines pull in opposite directions — a camera body is resolved in millimetres and assembly sequences, a sofa in how a room fills up over ten years — and doing both means keeping two sets of instincts alive. His awards sit in the top tier of the juries that gave them, in Japan and in Germany alike. He also teaches, as a part-time lecturer at the Tokyo University of the Arts and at Tama Art University.

The furniture end of that range is where UK specifiers meet him: Ralik, the modular seating system he drew for Arper in 2023, five years after Kiik for the same manufacturer. La Mercanti supplies Ralik for waiting areas and lobbies, with samples and the finish schedule agreed before the order.