Tokuin Yoshioka is perhaps as much a skilled material scientist as he is a creative furniture designer. Using uncommon and often scientifically complex materials, he constructs chairs, sofas and other everyday furniture objects from some of the strangest and most unlikely substances you can imagine – from crystallized chair structures to comfortable light-weight paper couches.

“VENUS takes shape by making the tiny crystals grow in an aquarium, and makes its appearance over time as if the goddess herself gradually emerges from water. This natural crystal chair, which is formed using the laws of nature and embodies a beauty born of coincidence, pushes the boundaries of creativity. The work is like my message for the future.”

The above honeycombed chair – made from a durable-but-flexible cellulose used inside space structures – was the result of much experimentation and extensive research.The result, however, is an impressively comfortable but incredibly sturdy chair that is folded into shape, held in place and provides seating from an unlikely form.

“Light and strong. The naturally created honeycomb is an ultimate architecture. This chair is made with sheets of glassine paper that were piled together and cut along specific lines so that it magically opens up into a honeycomb structure. The final form of the chair is set when in use, as it responds to the shape of the sitter’s bottom. This is now a part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Vitra Design Museum, Musée national d’Art moderne (Pompidou Center), and Victoria and Albert Museum.”

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His paper couches are likewise unusual in appearance and seem unlikely to be stable at first glance, but are of course incredible cozy places to curl up in once you realize you can actually sit in one.`

Instead of simply using materials at hand to create new shapes that wow customers and other style-seekers, this designer goes out of his way to push the envelop of science and materiality when it comes to making unique new furniture designs.

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