Junya Ishigami designs at Maniera Gallery are as ethereal as his architecture
Junya Ishigami presents new furniture at Maniera Gallery in Belgium (until 31 August 2024), following the series' launch during Milan Design Week
Junya Ishigami furniture and products go on show at Maniera Gallery in Belgium today - following the Japanese architect's series' official launch during Salone del Mobile 2024 and Milan Design Week as part of Alcova 2024.
Ishigami's architecture works, such as the Zaishui Art Museum in China and the cave-like House & Restaurant project in his home country's Yamaguchi, are defined by an elegant ethereality and a distinct sense of lightness. These qualities continue to be present in his smaller-scale designs, which display the same distinct approach as his buildings.
Junya Ishigami designs at Maniera Gallery
The collection on show at Maniera Gallery at Villa Danckaert (until 31 August 2024) comprises dining and rocking chairs, a low Zaisu chair, an atelier table, a dining table, a glass table, two partitions and seven lamps. Ishigami has worked with materials such as stainless steel, leather, rattan, glass and wood to craft objects that are highly functional and at the same time, poetic.
'Ishigami prefers lightness to mass, fragility to gravity, and this is also visible in his designs for the new furniture series for Maniera,' reads the gallery's statement. This is certainly true in the furniture on show here - some of which was created originally for Ishigami’s cave-like House & Restaurant, and others conceived for the architect's mother’s home, which is currently in construction.
The gallery is well known for commissioning architects and artists to develop furniture and objects that can be used and enjoyed in everyday life - but embody a design-led, art-infused identity. Founded by Kwinten Lavigne and Amaryllis Jacobs in 2014, Maniera's past collaborations include established names in the design world, such as Studio Mumbai, Piovenefabi, Christ and Gantenbein and Christoph Hefti.
Ishigami's family of products and furniture will be available through the Maniera website, as well as a handful of carefully selected furniture stores around the world.
The collection by Junya Ishigami for Maniera is on view until 31 August 2024
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Maniera
Hôtel Danckaert
Rue Meyerbeer 33
1190 Brussels
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
How Billecart-Salmon became the hospitality industry’s champagne of choiceNeil Ridley ventures into a subterranean temple to patience and precision beneath the village of Aÿ-Champagne, France, and discovers a winery not of spectacle, but of soul
-
In Baku Sakashita’s new lighting collection, hand-dyed silk threads are delicately illuminatedIn ‘Haku’, ultra-fine LEDs are woven within plant-dyed threads, showcasing intricacy, artistry and traditional Japanese craftsmanship
-
Discover the chic simplicity of CC-Steding jewelleryNic Farnan and Ben Chaplin create delicate silver jewellery in their east London studio
-
Japanese designer Shinichiro Ogata's latest venture is a modern riff on the traditions of his home countryAs he launches Saboe, a series of new tearooms and shops across Japan, we delve into Shinichiro Ogata's creative vision, mirrored throughout the spaces and objects, rituals and moments of his projects
-
20 emerging designers shine in our ‘Material Alchemists’ filmWallpaper’s ‘Material Alchemists’ exhibition during Milan Design Week 2025 spotlighted 20 emerging designers with a passion for transforming matter – see it now in our short film
-
Delve into the Wallpaper* Design Directory 2025, on sale nowIn the July issue of Wallpaper*, find a photographic love letter to Milan Design Week, plus the best new furniture, lighting, kitchens, bathrooms and more
-
2025 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize winner announced as Kunimasa AokiThe Japanese sculptor describes his work as ‘50 per cent tradition and 50 per cent innovation’
-
Tokyo design studio We+ transforms microalgae into coloursCould microalgae be the sustainable pigment of the future? A Japanese research project investigates
-
Inside the world of Tapio Wirkkala, the designer who created masterpieces in remotest LaplandThe Finnish artist set up shop in an Arctic outpost without electricity or running water; the work that he created there is now on display at a retrospective in Japan
-
Postcard from Brussels: a maverick design scene has taken root in the Belgian capitalBrussels has emerged as one of the best places for creatives to live, operate and even sell. Wallpaper* paid a visit during the annual Collectible fair to see how it's coming into its own
-
Delvis (Un)Limited turns a Brera shopfront into a live-in design installationWhat happens when collectible design becomes part of a live performance? The Theatre of Things, curated by Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi, invited designers to live with their work – and let the public look in