Bamboo and Steel Components
2012
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
In 2012 the V&A acquired an artist’s proof of Japanese designer Yuya Ushida’s bamboo XXXX_ Sofa (W.16- 2012). Designed in 2010-11 as a graduation piece from the Design Academy Eindhoven, the sofa was built entirely by hand using bamboo sticks and steel rings. Its construction from basic interlocking parts (based on building systems like Lego) allows the chair to expand and contract, able to sit more or fewer people.
Ushida wanted to use bamboo for his sofa because it is a non-precious, everyday material (as opposed to industrial materials like steel or aluminium). After having difficulty sourcing bamboo in Eindhoven, he ended up making the sofa using bamboo chopsticks – these were cheap and readily available, and of the perfect size and shape for the sofa’s design. Each chopstick had to be individually cut to size and sanded before being used in the chair.
When the sofa was acquired, Ushida donated examples of each of the seven individual elements that make it up. These elements demonstrate the simplicity of the sofa's construction. They also highlight the level of assembly required in building the final object (made using 8000 bamboo sticks and 2000 rings).
Ushida wanted to use bamboo for his sofa because it is a non-precious, everyday material (as opposed to industrial materials like steel or aluminium). After having difficulty sourcing bamboo in Eindhoven, he ended up making the sofa using bamboo chopsticks – these were cheap and readily available, and of the perfect size and shape for the sofa’s design. Each chopstick had to be individually cut to size and sanded before being used in the chair.
When the sofa was acquired, Ushida donated examples of each of the seven individual elements that make it up. These elements demonstrate the simplicity of the sofa's construction. They also highlight the level of assembly required in building the final object (made using 8000 bamboo sticks and 2000 rings).
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 5 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Examples of the 7 bamboo and steel components that make up Yuya Ushida's handmade Sofa_XXXX |
| Physical description | This object consists of two elements, both illustrating the seven parts that make up Yuya Ushida's Sofa_XXXX (Museum number: W.16-2012). In the first element, one example of each part is mounted in a frame. These parts are: four bamboo chopsticks, cut to different lengths; one thin steel ring; a rivet; a nut. The other element of the object consists of one example of each of the four bamboo 'x's that make up the body of the chair - two pieces of bamboo, of the same length, are joined at their centre with a rivet and a nut. Each 'x' is connected to the others via a steel ring at each of its four ends. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Credit line | Given by Yuya Ushida |
| Object history | In 2012 the V&A acquired an artist’s proof of Japanese designer Yuya Ushida’s bamboo XXXX_ Sofa (W.16- 2012). Yuya Ushida gave the Museum these examples of the individual elements that make up the sofa, in order to document its innovative, hand-made construction. |
| Summary | In 2012 the V&A acquired an artist’s proof of Japanese designer Yuya Ushida’s bamboo XXXX_ Sofa (W.16- 2012). Designed in 2010-11 as a graduation piece from the Design Academy Eindhoven, the sofa was built entirely by hand using bamboo sticks and steel rings. Its construction from basic interlocking parts (based on building systems like Lego) allows the chair to expand and contract, able to sit more or fewer people. Ushida wanted to use bamboo for his sofa because it is a non-precious, everyday material (as opposed to industrial materials like steel or aluminium). After having difficulty sourcing bamboo in Eindhoven, he ended up making the sofa using bamboo chopsticks – these were cheap and readily available, and of the perfect size and shape for the sofa’s design. Each chopstick had to be individually cut to size and sanded before being used in the chair. When the sofa was acquired, Ushida donated examples of each of the seven individual elements that make it up. These elements demonstrate the simplicity of the sofa's construction. They also highlight the level of assembly required in building the final object (made using 8000 bamboo sticks and 2000 rings). |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.17-2012 |
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| Record created | December 23, 2014 |
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