Page 44 - Designing Ways 242

FURNITURE
DESIGN

“Night Tales”

by Masanori Umeda

n the occasion of the Fuorisalone tubular structure, with iconic black
Design City Edition 2021, and white chessboard pattern laminate
OMemphis presents “Night Tales”, borders, tatami mats, trays with lacquered
a Post Design collection by Masanori surfaces and flamboyant coloured silk
Umeda. pillows.
The “Night Tales” collection can be Just as he did with his Tawaraya
viewed online on the Fuorisalone.it boxing ring, Umeda combines traditional
platform, and at memphis-milano.com, as Japanese domestic aesthetics with
of 12 April. It will be available for viewing contemporary Nippon accents and
at the same time at the Post Design the western taste in furnishings in a
Gallery, Largo Treves 5, in the centre of remarkable juxtaposition.
the Brera Design District. The other works designed by Umeda in
Forty years after the creation of the the early eighties which are now presented
Memphis Group and the presentation of in the “Night Tales” collection are the
the famous Tawaraya boxing ring, a new Medusa table and the Animal Chair, the
family of products designed by Masanori Gelato lamp and the Star aluminium tray.
Umeda, some of them dating from the The Medusa table, made to a 1982 likable objects which exude instant
early eighties – fully in line with the spirit design, is a domestic animal with zigzag empathy and emotional involvement.
of Memphis – now takes its place in the legs, reminiscent of the arms of the The Gelato table, wall and ceiling lamp
family of Post Design collections. Murmansk fruit dish by Sottsass. The is an object with personality, halfway
The Utamaro series consists of a double iridescent, dichroic glass top changes between an ice cream cone and a clown’s
bed, sofa and armchair, inspired by the colour with the changing of the light hat.
erotic rituals of the Edo period, women conditions and the angle of viewing, while The Star tray is a complex centrepiece
and the interiors of traditional homes, as projecting coloured shadows around the for the table or fruit bowl with small
represented in the works of the Japanese room. coloured handles and a perforated
painter Kitagawa Utamaro. The Animal Chair, which was also decorative motif in the centre.
These three coordinated furnishing designed in 1982, forms part of one of In addition to the new “Night Tales”
objects, with their massive aesthetic the Umeda design projects which bring collection by Masanori Umeda, the Post
impact, have a blue and fuchsia metal nature and design together to create Design Gallery also presents a number

44 Issue 242 • dw