TY “Standard” Collection

by Teruhiro Yanagihara

Following the tradition of Arita pottery, Teruhiro Yanagihara developed a new series of ceramics using the traditional technique of clay made of crushed stone, though in a different composition. The result is a high-density kind of clay that makes the pottery items extremely strong and heat and stain-resistant, even without glaze. A special agent added to the clay provides the Standard series with a characteristic light grey, matte tone.

The series clearly show Yanagihara’s interest in borderless design. Items don’t have predetermined functions but allow different combinations and usages and good stackability among the Standard products. Square plates, for example, can be used as trays and small round plates double as lids. Bowls can be used for both Japanese rice or Western-style morning cereals, while the small cup is made for Italian espresso, it also perfectly serves Japanese sake.

Teruhiro Yanagihara

Teruhiro Yanagihara was born in 1976, Japan and spent his youth in Kagawa Prefecture. He established his own design company in 2002, and has been contributing “borderless” designs for national and international clients.

His projects cross boundaries and cultures to form encounters between contemporary design, industries and Japanese crafts. Since 2002, Yanagihara has been active in many design fields. He has exhibited at several international fairs such as the Stockholm Furniture Fair and Milan Salone. He is a product designer for clients such as OFFECCT (Sweden), Pallucco (Italy), Landscape Forms (USA), Wallpaper* (UK) and Kimura Glass (Japan) and an interior designer for Sergio Rossi (Italy), and the Less Is More (LIM) Group in Japan, among others.

He is the creative director of the furniture brand Karimoku New Standard (Japan), the leather item collection TYP by Morpho (Japan) and the ceramics brand 1616/ Arita Japan. Currently he is working as Creative Director on a ceramics project which celebrates the 400^th anniversary of the Arita pottery industry in Japan and is personally involved in product development.The Stools and Pile series from Karimoku New Standard are taken into the permanent design collection of F.N.A.C. (Fond National d’Art Contemporain), Paris.

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