Naoto Fukasawa sparks children’s imaginations with play sculptures

'Children don’t need to be told how to play – an object just has to catch their attention and make them excited to play, without conscious thought,' says Naoto Fukasawa. 'I’m trying to help kids be creative by letting them find their own way to play.'

The legendary Japanese designer is sharing his thoughts on play while seated on a chair perhaps unlike any other he has designed during his decades-long career: it’s tiny in size, tomato red in colour and has smooth, simple curves. Nearby scattered on grass is the bright, clean form of a blue box with circular holes, a sunshine yellow house and an undulating green ring, upon which a toddler is happily clambering.

This is ‘Yuugu’, Fukasawa’s first collection of children’s play sculptures, created for the Japanese company Jakuets, a progressive pioneer in educational play. Colourful, intuitive and playful, the new collection launched with an outdoor installation at Triennale Milano during Milan Design Week.

Since launching in 1916, Fukui-based Jakuets has spent over a century exploring the meaning of play. Today, it works with 40,000 nursery school and daycare centres across Japan, producing playground equipment, nursery installations and educational material.

‘Yuugu’ – Jakuets’ first collection launched overseas – aims to share the borderless language of play through Fukusawa’s creative perspective, balancing so-called 'imagination triggers' with intuitive function and quality design.

'Kids can play in any environment,' Fukasawa tells Wallpaper*, while seated at a small but perfectly formed red ‘Piccola’ table from the new collection. 'An object doesn’t need to be too obvious in telling them how to play. It has to catch their attention – they see it and say wow and are drawn to it.

'They might use a basic function – like a slide – but they quickly create their own way of playing, so objects don’t need to be too expressive. They have to fit into the surrounding environment and appeal to adults as well as children.'

During the conversation, a handful of children spontaneously stop to explore. The new play sculptures scattered on the grass have simple lines and curves in bold shades (red, blue, green, yellow), their shapes made in carbon fibre using a wooden master mould.

'Surfaces are so important,' he says. 'Fingers and hands have to stick to hold their weight. They must be safe and make children excited, without thinking. Yesterday when I arrived, there was a little girl collecting all the chairs and putting them in a pile.'

There is ‘Omochi’, its bright red shape, round and smooth, resembling a Japanese rice sweet; ‘Banri’, a circular green pathway in undulating heights; ‘House’, a yellow wendyhouse shaped structure; ‘Donut’, with rounded red edges; and ‘Cube’, a blue box with circular cut-outs.

'“Cube” was actually from the imagination of Tadao Ando’s building,' says Fukasawa. 'Often, Ando-san’s architecture does not go straight, there are detours, a journey to follow. Adults can enjoy these play objects too. We want to show people how to have a happy quality of life through these objects.'

The collection is underpinned by Jakuets’ elemental idea of embracing play as an interconnected 'microcosm of what an inclusive, holistic society could look like', as Haruko Tokumoto, manager and fourth generation of the family-run company, adds: 'Play is so important for life. It’s about giving children the freedom to choose how they want to play.

'This is the first time we’ve introduced our play equipment outside Japan. But there are no cultural barriers – children everywhere know how to play. It goes beyond language.'

naotofukasawa.com