Tadanori Tozawa is the president of Hinoki Kogei, a prestigious wood cabinet manufacturer in Japan. He is a certified cabinet repairer of PP Møbler in Denmark and teaches cabinetry at Nihon University College of Art.
Education and Background1995 Graduates from Nihon University College of Art, majoring in sculpture.1996 Graduates from the Department of Cabinetry of Nara Prefectural School of Technique and Craftsmanship.1996 Starts working for Ikeda Kensetsu construction company, in the department in charge of Yakushiji Temple in Nara.1998 Starts working for PP Møbler and Neils Roth Andersen in Denmark.2000 Starts working for Hinoki Kogei in Saitama Prefecture.2002 Starts teaching cabinetry at Nihon University College of Art.
Projects- Cabinetry and furnishings for Hoshinoya Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture, commissioned by Azuma Architect and Associates- Cabinetry and furnishings for Hoshinoya Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, commissioned by Azuma Architect and Associates- Cabinetry and furnishings for Hoshinoya Taketomi Island in Okinawa Prefecture, commissioned by Azuma Architect and Associates- Cabinetry and furnishings for Hoshinoya Tokyo, commissioned by Azuma Architect and Associates- Furnishings of new shinkansen Tsubame express train run by Kyushu Railway Company, commissioned by Don Design Associates- Renewal of chairs for the restoration of the National Diet Building in Tokyo, commissioned by Mitsukoshi Seisakusho (Mitsukoshi Department Store’s cabinetry studio)- Cabinetry for Momotaro Stadium Museum (Currently renamed the Museum of Archeological Remains and Sports in Okayama) in Okayama Prefecture, commissioned by Don Design Associates- Furniture for Reiko Yamamura’s House in Shizuoka Prefecture, commissioned by the homeowner- Furniture for Alain Ducasse’s House in Paris, France, commissioned by Simplicity- Restoration of the keika (wooden drum stand), a national treasure, owned by Chusonji Temple in Miyagi Prefecture, commissioned by Konishi Decorative Arts and Crafts- Furniture and Cabinetry for architect Hiroshi Naito’s House in Kanagawa Prefecture, commissioned by Cassina ixc.
Born in London 1974, I followed a path from sculpture at Central Saint Martins into theatrical and event scenography where I gained a broad range of making skills. In 2005 I joined the M.A. Design Products (Platform Ten) course at the RCA under Ron Arad and since then have concentrated almost solely on furniture. I was awarded an Esmee Fairbairn bursary following my graduate exhibition at the Design Museum, London and my show with the British Council as one of the ‘Great Brits’ at the Milan Furniture Fair 2007 was followed by an invitation to create an entire installation for Paul Smith in Milan and then further work with Paul Smith in London. Working with both galleries and manufacturers my work continues to be exhibited in both the UK and abroad including the Milan Furniture fair, Design Miami, Stavanger 2008 (Norway), and MoMA New York. In 2009 I was awarded one of the four ‘Designer of the Future’ awards by Design Miami, followed by a significant installation at Art Basel. Previously I have shown with Murray Moss in New York and during Design Miami on many occasions, also at 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo. My work is in the collection of the Museum of Jerusalem, Design Museum Holon and various other private collections.Recent projects have included the design and production of the large central information desk for the Museum of Childhood, a cast porcelain collection for Meissen (Germany), a permanent furniture installation for the Museum of Israel and a nomadic display system for Oyuna (Mongolian Cashmere). For the last year I have been working on a very large public artwork for the new Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh - a 188m long wall design that will feature panelised 3D macroscopic skin textures wrapping around the building. This is due to begin installation in late October 2016.
I am also the creator and founder of FORMcard. A handy pocket sized card of bio plastic that you can use to fix and modify your everyday world simply using hot water to melt it. FORMcard was launched on Kickstarter in November 2015 and then transferred to Indiegogo where it concluded its campaign with more than 10,000 customers worldwide. FORMcard is now distributed globally.
These cabinets are the result of a continued creative relationship with the renknowned Japanese company, Hinoki Kogei. In this case specifically with the president of the company, Tadanori Tozawa, and son of the respected founder Mr Chuzo Tozawa. This series of cabinets have been co-designed with Tadanori and realised personally by him in Japan.
The front face of each cabinet uses a single piece of timber cleft in two resulting in a highly textured surface, reflected on each door.
“I have long had a preoccupation with bi-symmetry. The notion of splitting one thing into two is, I find quite strange. A destructive moment creates; a cell divides. I have experimented with this idea through various projects, including my Split Box Shelves in which a single log is randomly split to create an irregular yet perfectly complete shaped box, and later in the Palindrome series in which rough moulds and casts are joined together to form reflected bi-symmetrical pieces of furniture.
During the development stage of the first project I worked on with Hinoki Kogei, the Dodai benches, Mr Chuzo Tozawa proposed that we could use gigantic logs split into two to form the sides of the benches, and we have continued to use this process for these new cabinets, giving a frontal focus to this dramatic cleaving action. A further curious effect of bi-symmetrical objects is that they invariably hold animal or human like characteristics, our brains are hard wired to find faces, torsos, eyes and I enjoy this ambiguity when looking at forms created using just vegetable material.
The cabinets are shown with Sarah Myerscough Gallery in London and are now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.