Visual Notes
Butterfly
Looking at its presence in the corner of a room, one is captivated by the beautiful balance of motion and stillness. More than half a century since its introduction in 1956, it remains an icon of Japanese mid-century design, loved all over the world: the Butterfly Stool.
In my weekly articles, I have come to feel a desire to occasionally introduce items worthy of being called masterpieces of product and graphic design, from my perspective as an art director. As the first installment, I am delighted to begin this series with this masterpiece by Sori Yanagi, one of the designers I respect most. As many of you may know, he is one of the greatest contributors to the establishment of post-war Japanese industrial design.
Yanagi’s design process had a distinctive element. He never chose to finalize a design based solely on two-dimensional drawings at a desk. He placed great importance on creating mock-ups with his own hands and engaging in repeated trial and error. Holding the objects, using them, and working through tactile intuition, he pushed the details to their absolute limit.
From everyday household tools to the Olympic torch holder, and even structures like pedestrian overpasses, his wide-ranging body of work always seems to breathe an honest warmth conveyed through the “hand.” The Butterfly Stool is no exception; its sculpted wooden curves were originally conceived from teasobi (playful hand movements), folding and bending paper by hand.
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At the same time, this stool is an innovation born out of collaboration with exceptional craftsmanship. Yanagi intuitively saw potential in molded plywood, an advanced technology that was still virtually unknown in Japan at the time. It took three full years from conception to completion. Through extensive technological research, the Butterfly Stool was manufactured by Tendo Mokko, the company that succeeded in commercializing molded plywood for the first time in Japan. Only through this close partnership with brilliant craftsmen could this beautiful butterfly finally take flight into the world.
Great design inherently embodies both beauty and high functionality or structural solutions. This stool is no different. Composed of two identical, symmetrical parts that integrate the seat and legs, joined back-to-back at minimal points, its extremely simple structure reveals meticulous attention to everything from weight-bearing balance to stackability for packing and storage. “God is in the details” is a phrase meant precisely for a creation like this.
Rather than fading with time, the Butterfly Stool maintains a serene identity within whatever space it occupies. Come to think of it, Yanagi has another representative stool: the Elephant Stool. If given the opportunity, I would love to touch upon that in another article.
See you next piece. Have a beautiful week ahead.
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Originally published at https://ashandcotokyo.substack.com.
