【Sori Yanagi】Butterfly Stool - Maple

Sori Yanagi (1915-2011)

Being one of the pioneers of Japanese industrial design, Sori Yanagi had great interest in showing the texture of the raw material, and strive to achieve a sense of harmony between the human body and a piece of furniture. 

Sori Yanagi’s work combines western industrial designs with Japanese artisanal traditions. His design philosophy was “You don’t create a product by designing it. The process of creating a product generates the design.” Therefore he never relied only on the drawing board and made countless handmade models for each and every product. That is the reason why his products fit users’ bodies or hands so perfectly.

In 1952, he founded the Yanagi Industrial Design Institute, which created a prolific number of articles of daily use and furnishings. His design has won lots of international awards. Notable works include Elephant Stool(1954) and Butterfly Stool (1956). In addition to furniture, Yanagi dabbled in the design of lighting, glass objects, cutlery, kitchenware, children’s toys, metro stations, cars and motorcycles.