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chainsaw carved furniture collection made of japanese cypress
design practice siin siin introduces ‘zui conn’, a series of furniture made of noto hiba cypress, chainsaw carved and dyed with a mixture of pine soot and persimmon tannin. the collection —which includes chairs, stools, counters, side tables and benches— is created in collaboration with lumber dealer shigeki yamaguchi and seeks to present a more symbolic approach to working with wood, while also producing aesthetically pleasing furniture pieces.
while carving the wood, the round tips of the chainsaw blades leave traces of their shapes
all images courtesy of siin siin
a meaningful collaboration
the tokyo-based studio got the idea of working on the ‘zui conn’ collection, after learning more about shigeki yamaguchi’s background and experience. ‘I learned that yamaguchi was a fan of isamu noguchi and george nakashima, and that his hobby was chainsaw carving, after visiting his studio several times,’ shares sumida kazuya, founder of siin siin. ‘he used three different chainsaws with different blade lengths and horsepower to boldly yet delicately carve the texture onto the surface of noto hiba,’ he adds.
while carving the wood, the round tips of the chainsaw blades leave traces of their shapes, as well as textural detailing. the designers took the processed material and shaped it into furniture, before dying them with a mixture of pine soot and persimmon tannin, a mixture with antiseptic and insect repellent properties, which also provides a beautiful, pure black color to the pieces. the whole process of constructing this series hides a symbolic meaning, due to the meaningful collaboration between siin siin and shigeki yamaguchi. the name ‘zui conn’ is borrowed from the sound of sawing wood in the japanese nursery rhyme ‘kibiki’.
close up of the chainsaw carving the noto hiba cypress
lumber dealer shigeki yamaguchi
texture details of the ‘zui conn’ pieces
texture details of the ‘zui conn’ pieces
texture details of the ‘zui conn’ pieces
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project info:
name: zui conn
designer: siin siin
in collaboration with: shigeki yamaguchi
designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom
chainsaw carved japanese cypress forms symbolic textured furniture series by siin siin