is a Japanese designer and artist. He is active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, and he is internationally acclaimed for his works dealing with light and nature. Many of his works chosen as part of permanent collections in museums worldwide, including

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

(MoMA), Le Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou (

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

) in Paris, and

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London. He has won many international design awards. In 2007 he was named by

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

magazine as one of the 100 Most Respected Japanese in the World.

Profile and biography

Tokujin Yoshioka was born in Saga Prefecture, Japan in 1967. Since childhood, influenced by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, learnt painting, such as oil painting, and had particular interest in science. After graduating from the Kuwasawa Design School in Tokyo in 1988, he studied under the designers

Shiro Kuramata Shiro Kuramata (, 29 November 1934 – 1 February 1991) is one of Japan's most important designers of the 20th century. Biography Kuramata was born in 1934. He was part of a generation of Japanese creatives born just before the outbreak of S ...

and

Issey Miyake was a Japanese fashion designer. He was known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances, such as '' L'eau d'Issey'', which became his best-known product. Life and career Miyake was born on 22 April 1938 in Hiroshi ...

. He established Tokujin Yoshioka Inc. in 2000. 「Tornado」／Design Miami／2007

Being active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, he creates works under the theme of light and nature, which also reflect the Japanese idea of beauty. By using immaterialistic elements, such as light, creates expressions that is unique, surpassing the concept of shape. He has designed for

and other global companies such as Cartier, Swarovski,

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...

Hermès Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, and

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

, and has been announcing new works at Salone del Mobile Milano(world's largest international furniture exhibition) in collaboration with Italian furniture brands, including

Kartell Kartell is an Italian company that makes and sells plastic contemporary furniture. It is headquartered in Noviglio, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy, and it is a subsidiary of Felofin. History The company began manufacturing automobile access ...

, Moroso, Glas Italia and Driade. He has won many international awards, including

Design Miami Design Miami/ is an American design company that holds two annual flagship collectible design fairs in Miami, Florida and Basel, Switzerland. Design Miami/ also holds fairs in Paris and Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard M ...

Designer of the Year, presented to a designer who has made the most significant contribution to design globally, Elle Deco International Design Awards Designer of the Year and Milano Design Award.

Representative works

''Chairs created out of natural structure, 2001''

Paper chair 'Honey-pop' (2000) is a chair that changes shape from plane to three-dimensional. By spreading open a 1 cm layer of 120 layers of thin paper, a honeycomb structure is born, and only when a person sits on it, the shape is fixed and the work is completed. 'PANE chair' (2006) is made like fiberous structure of plants, creating a structure with thin fibers of 1mm intertwining. During the production process, a block made of fibers is placed in a paper duct and put in oven as if baking a bread and by adding heat, the form of chair is shape memorized and completed. Chair made of natural crystals 'Venus – Natural crystal chair' (2008) is a work that is transformed into a chair by growing natural crystals in a water tank to create crystalline structure.

''Glass projects, 2002''

Has announced starting with glass bench 'Water Block' (2002), 'Transparent Japanese House '(2002), 'Chair that disappears in the rain' (2002), 'Waterfall' (2005–2006), 'Glass Tea House – KOU-AN' (2011), 'Water Block – PRISM' (2017). Glass bench 'Water Block' has been exhibited at Musée d'Orsay in Paris since 2011.

''Musée d' Orsay, Paris, 2011''

At Musée d' Orsay in Paris, participated in renewal project of the

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

Gallery. Together with works of representative Impressionists,

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

, Edgar Degas,

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 10 'Water Blocks', glass bench is permanently displayed. It blend in with light painted by the Impressionists painters, creating a space that starts a new conversation between history and contemporary.

''Crystallized Project, 2008''

Natural crystal chair 'VENUS – Natural crystal chair' (2008) is a work in which in a water tank, natural crystals are grown to form crystalline structures and transformed into a chair. One music piece creates one painting. With crystal paintings, 'Swan Lake', 'Destiny' and 'Moonlight', music is played during the growth process of crystals and is completed when forms of crystals are changed with the vibrations of sound. 'Rose' is a sculpture crystallizing colour pigments of rose, expressing the energy of life.

''Rainbow Church,'' 2010, 2013

Architecture created using more than 500 crystal prisms, the 'Rainbow Church ', focuses on human sense of light perception, and is a work that is completed when a person experiences light. It is an architecture that expresses light itself, filling the space with rainbow colors as light is dispersed by prisms.

''Glass Tea House – KOU-AN, 2011''

At the 54th Venezia Biennnale International Art Exhibition,

Glasstress Glasstress is a recurring exhibition that brings together art by contemporary artists made with glass. Launched in 2009 as a collateral exhibition of the Venice Biennale of Arts by Adriano Berengo as a way of showcasing the works produced by Beren ...

2011, the collateral event of the 54th La Biennale di Vennezia, the glass tea house – KOU-AN was presented as an architectural project and in 2015, was built on the stage (observation deck) of Shogun-zuka, a mound of Shogun, Seiryu-den, which is a precinct of Tendai Sect Shoren-in Temple."Dezeen�
Tokujin Yoshioka Installs glass tea house decide an ancient Japanese temple
/ref> Ao (Blue) Fudo Myo-o statue, a national treasure, one of the three great Fudo, god of fire, is dedicated to Seiryu-den. From its 220 meters altitude big stage, you can enjoy a panoramic view over Kyoto city below. In the year 794,

Emperor Kanmu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the sco ...

visited this place and appreciating its basin formation (landscape) was convinced that Kyoto is the most suitable place to be designated a capital, initiating construction of the ancient capital city. So, it is said that this is the original point where ancient capital city of Kyoto, a city that symbolizes Japanese culture began.

''Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Torch''

On March 20, 2019, the torch for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in Tokyo was unveiled. The torch was designed by Yoshioka to be built in the shape of an iconic Japanese cherry blossom (sakura) flower using the aluminium extrusion manufacturing technology employed to produce

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

bullet trains. He also designed the

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

torch for the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

Representative works

* 2000　Tokujin Yoshioka Design * 2000　TōFU / Yamagiwa * 2001　Honey-pop * 2001　THINK ZONE /

Mori building is a Japanese family-owned property management firm. As of 2015 its president and CEO is Shingo Tsuji. Its headquarters are in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. Mori Building has been managing office building leases ...

* 2002　Water Block * 2002　Transparent Japanese House * 2002–2003　Chair that disappears in the rain * 2004　Souffle / Maison Hermès * 2005–2007　MEDIA SKIN / au design project

KDDI () is a Japanese telecommunications operator formed on October 1, 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp. (Daini-Denden Inc.), KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa) Corp. (itself a former listed state-owned enterprise privatized in 1998), and IDO Corp. It ...

* 2006　The Gate – Tokujin Yoshioka x Lexus * 2006　Waterfall * 2006　PANE chair * 2007　Tornado / Design Miami * 2007　Rainbow chair * 2007　Tear Drop / Yamagiwa * 2006–2008　Swarovski Ginza flagship store * 2007–2008　VENUS – Natural crystal chair * 2007–2008　Crystallized Painting – Moonlight / Destiny / Unfinished * 2008　Eternal / Swarovski Crystal Palace * 2010, 1997　Snow * 2009　Moon Fragment / Cartier * 2009　Lake of Shimmer / Basel World / Swarovski * 2010　X-RAY / KDDI iida * 2010　Stellar / Swarovski Crystal Palace * 2010, 2013　Rainbow Church * 2011　Glass Tea House – KOU-AN / The 54th La Biennale di Venezia – Glasstress 2011 * 2011　The Impressionist Gallery renewal project / Musée d'Orsay * 2013　Crystallized Painting – Swan Lake, Spider's Thread, Rose * 2013　Wings of Sparkle / Basel World / Swarovski * 2014　Cartier Time Art – Mechanic of Passion / Power Station of Art * 2015–2017　Glass Tea House – KOU-AN / Shogunzuka Seiryu-den, Kyoto * 2017　Spectrum * 2017　Water Block – PRISM * 2017　S.F chair * 2019　 Tokyo 2020 Olympic and

Torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. I ...

*2020　Crystal of Light /

Tokyo Metro The is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.84 million passengers, the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city; the other being the Toe ...

Ginza Station

Public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...

*2022 Star /

Tokyo Midtown is a 569,000-square-meter (6.1 million sq ft) mixed-use development in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in March 2007, the $3 billion (¥370 billion) project includes office, residential, commercial, hotel, and leisure space, and the new quarte ...

Yaesu is a district in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, located north of Ginza, west of Nihonbashi and Kyōbashi, and adjacent to the east side of Tokyo Station. The Yaesu exit of this station, which faces Nihonbashi, is recent and primarily provides access to ...

Major exhibitions

* 1998–2000　ISSEY MIYAKE Making Things /

Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain The Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, known simply as the Fondation Cartier, is a contemporary art museum located at 261 boulevard Raspail in the 14th arrondissement of the French capital, Paris. History The Fondation Cartier was cr ...

, Ace Gallery NY,

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo The is a contemporary art museum in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. The museum is located in Kiba Park. It was opened in 1995. Collections *''Marilyn Monroe'' by Andy Warhol (1967) *'' Girl with Hair Ribbon'' by Roy Lichtenstein (1965) *''Honey-pop'' by ...

* 2002　Tokujin Yoshioka Honey-pop, MDS/G * 2005–2006　Tokujin Yoshioka x Lexus / Museum of Permanente * 2005　Stardust / Swarovski Crystal Palace / Milano Design Week * 2007　Tornado / Design Miami / Designer of the year 2007 * 2007　Tokujin x Moroso / Milano Design Week * 2009　Story of … Memories of Cartier Creations /

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japan, ...

Hyokeikan * 2008　Second Nature / 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT * 2010　Sensing Nature /

Mori Art Museum The is a contemporary art museum founded by the real estate developer Minoru Mori (1934–2012) in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills complex both of which he built in Tokyo, Japan. The exterior architect of the museum's ga ...

* 2010　The Invisibles Snowflake / Kartell Gallery * 2011　TWILIGHT – Tokujin Yoshioka / Moroso / Milano Design Week * 2011　Tokujin Yoshioka : Waterfall / Sharman Contemporary Art Foundation * 2011　Glass Tea House – KOU-AN / The 54th La Biennale di Venezia –

2011 * 2011–2012, 2014　Cartier Time Art / Bellerive Museum, Artscience Museum, Power Station of Art * 2012　TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA 2012 CREATOR OF THE YEAR / Maison & Objet * 2013　TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA_Crystallize / Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo * 2014　La Biennale di Venezia – The 14th International Architecture Exhibition 2014 * 2015　Make Yourself Comfortable / Chatsworth House * 2015　TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA_TORNADO / Saga Prefectural Art Museum * 2015–2017　Glass Tea House – KOU-AN / Shogunzuka Seiryu-den, Kyoto * 2017　TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA_SPECTRUM / Shiseido Gallery * 2017　TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA x LG : S.F / Milano Design Week

Permanent collections

Museum of Modern Art, New York The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, Paris * Musée d'Orsay, Paris * Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris *

, London *

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile (New York City), Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the ...

Vitra Design Museum The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The ...

The Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and list of largest art museums, largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visit ...

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and wa ...

Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, ...

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

* Israel Museum *

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art is a museum in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea, run by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. It consists of two parts that house traditional Korean art and contemporary art. Museum 1 is designed by Swis ...

Major awards

* 1997　JCD Design Award – Grand prize (Japan) * 2000　 I.D. Annual Design Review (USA)"red do
Tokujin Yoshioka Design
/ref> * 2001　I.D. Annual Design Review (USA) *2001　A&W Award The Coming Designer for the Future (Germany) * 2002　Mainichi Design Award 2001 (Japan) * 2005　Talents du Luxe (France) * 2007　The 57th Art Encouragement Prize for New Artist (Japan) * 2007　Good Design Award – Gold prize (Japan) * 2007　Design Miami – Designer of the Year 2007 (USA) * 2008　

Wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so ...

Design Awards 2008 – Best furniture designer (UK) * 2008　DFA Design for Asia Awards 2008 – Grand Award (Hong Kong) * 2009　

ELLE ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

DECO International Design Awards – Designer of the Year 2009 (Italy) * 2010　

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

– The 100 Most Creative People in Business 2010 (USA) * 2010　TOKYO Design & Art ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS – Artist of the Year (Japan) * 2011　A&W Architektur & Wohnen – Designer of the Year 2011 (Germany) * 2012　Maison & Objet – Creator of the Year 2012 (France) * 2016　ELLE DECO International Design Awards (EDIDA) 2016 (Italy) *2017　Milano Design Award 2017 – Winner (Italy)"Milano Design Awards
Discover there Winners
/ref>

Publications, collection of works

* 2001　''Tokujin Design'' (gap / Japan) * 2006　''Tokujin Yoshioka Design'' (English edition, Japanese edition) ( Phaidon / UK) * 2008　''Second Nature'' (Kyuryudo / Japan) * 2009　''Invisible Forms'' (Esquire Magazine / Japan) * 2010　''SENSING NATURE'' (Heibonsha / Japan) * 2010　''TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA'' ( Rizzoli / USA) * 2013　''TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA_Crystallize'' (Seigensha / Japan) * 2017　''KOU-AN Glass Tea House'' (Kyuryudo / Japan)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshioka, Tokujin Japanese industrial designers Japanese furniture designers Japanese interior designers Exhibition designers Japanese installation artists People from Saga Prefecture 1967 births Living people