Nature in design: Ripples bar stool by Toyo Ito
The Japanese are a very spiritual people who appreciate the beauty of nature and seek to incorporate this kind of beauty in their everyday lives. Architects and furniture designers, I think, grasp this concept perfectly and this is why we can see nature-inspired themes in their creations. Take, for instance, the Ripples stool by Toyo Ito.
The stool is part of Ito’s Ripples Collection, introduced in 2003. The concentric circles in the chair’s design might remind some people of a bull’s eye, the kind used in target practice, but for Toyo Ito, it was all inspired by nature. If you’ve ever thrown a pebble into a lake, you might just agree that the resulting ripples greatly resemble the circles in the stool’s design.
Toyo Ito also said that the design reminds him of the rings of a tree, which scientists study to determine a certain tree’s age. Too, it doesn’t hurt at all that the stool, being made from walnut, mahogany, cherry, oak and ash. You just can’t help thinking of trees and forests – and by extension, nature – when you look at the Ripples seat.
It’s interesting how those different types of wood are integrated to form a chair. Layers of each type are pressed together, after which a slight depression is created with the use of a pantograph machine. And the best part is this: since no two wood grains are exactly alike, each Ripple chair has its own unique appearance. It’s precisely that kind of uniqueness that appeals to people’s aesthetics. The Ripples stool would certainly leave a positive impression whether it’s used in modern hotel seating or in contemporary bar and café furniture sets.
Toyo Ito is reputed to be one of Japan’s most influential and innovative architects and designers, and the acclaim he has received both in his home country and elsewhere in the world supports this reputation.
