Representative Naho Okamoto, who lives in Bern, Switzerland and is studying design at a graduate school, says that one of her favorite places here is the scenery of the Aare River shining in turquoise blue.

Bern, the capital of Switzerland, is a beautiful city whose old town is designated as a World Heritage Site and retains a medieval cityscape, and the Aare River gently meanders around the old town. The people of Bern bathe in the river to cool off in the summer. There are many fountains in the city of Bern, and there is a river and water in the immediate vicinity of life.

Okamoto was also fascinated by the beauty and sparkle of the Aare River and the lives of the people of Switzerland, and he began to think that one day he would like to express the landscape as a piece of work.

Okamoto : I used to go to the river almost every day in the summer. Not only is it surrounded by rivers, but there are also many fountains in the town where you can drink water from the Alps as much as you want. It is the people of Bern who are at the center of this work.

The starting point is local manufacturing

One of Okamoto's policies is to "manufacture where there is a relationship". It is a manufacturing that originates from the so-called "local". Okamoto, who is studying the theme of social impact in the graduate school design department, thought about manufacturing in Bern based on this policy.

Okamoto : Switzerland and Japan have many things in common, such as aesthetic literacy, design sense, a sense of coexistence with nature, and a love for simple things. I did.”

Local manufacturing does not only involve working with the local people, but it is also important to proceed in a way that is in line with the climate and lifestyle of the area.

What Okamoto felt while living in Europe was that consideration for the environment had permeated life.

Okamoto : Of course, it's natural to recycle, but I don't use plastic bags that much, I don't usually take airplanes, bio vegetables are lined up in supermarkets, and shopping is basically sold by weight. Doing good for the environment is not a conscious thing, it's a normal thing."

When it comes to manufacturing in such an environment, we naturally turn to recycled materials. Okamoto, who had also studied sustainability in graduate school, thought of making things using recycled glass.

The first thing that came to my mind was small items such as vases and vessels. SIRI SIRI has many male customers, and jewelry has a strong meaning when such men want to give SIRI SIRI as a gift. To achieve this, we worked with a local workshop to produce the first sample.

Design Concept Deepened by Lockdown

However, just as we are about to proceed, a lockdown occurs due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Remote communication didn't go well, so I decided to take a break from work and wait until the end of lockdown to deepen my thoughts.

It was during this process that the concept of lighting was born.

The idea was inspired by the story of how Louis Poulsen's famous PH5 light came into being. Danish designer Paul Henigsen measured the lux and angle of the evening light to reproduce his favorite evening light, calculated the shape to reproduce it, and painted the inside of the shade red, The reflector was painted blue .

Okamoto : That kind of craftsmanship is not so common these days, so my first thought was to take that much time and effort into craftsmanship. I wanted to create expressions that included my thoughts, and I felt that I wanted to recreate the beautiful scenery I see now in my daily life.”

Vases and plates exist in everyday life, but lighting is lit every day. If the lit light reproduces the beautiful scenery of the Aare River, it means that the scenery seen from Okamoto's subjective view enters into the daily life of the people who use it.

Moreover, recycled glass was suitable for what Okamoto wanted to express with lighting.

Okamoto : Recycled glass naturally contains air bubbles. One of my ways of designing is not to force the material as much as possible. I also thought it would be more interesting to have bubbles in it to represent

While experimenting with mixing carbonic acid to increase the number of air bubbles that enter the glass, using colored glass as a material, and mixing pigments, the concept gradually solidified.

Okamoto : I wanted to create a work that gives a sense of depth, as if you were looking at a lake, so I designed the glass with thickness. I am trying to reproduce the shades of blue of the Aare River using this technique.”

What kind of scenery will the light and shadow created through recycled glass create in our room?

design for lifestyle

Although the lighting has not yet been completed, it is said that this lighting is just the first step in Okamoto's new project.

Okamoto : “Jewelry is a part of life, but I would like to design the overall lifestyle, so I would like to develop this lamp in the form of a sister brand that is separate from jewelry.”

And beyond that is the Weekend House Project. We are planning to produce a whole house that can be used as a base residence or a weekend villa.

Okamoto : What I felt strongly about living in Switzerland is how important it is to use your time and interact with nature. However, the Swiss have long taken it for granted to spend their weekends in nature.I wondered if we could do that in Japan.”

We will design an off-grid house that is slightly larger than a hut, and will also design the interior, including the recycled lamps. A project that designs the lifestyle itself rather than objects is about to begin.

Ideas born from European lifestyles may enrich our lives.

Written by Kenji Ishimura