Born in Japan, raised in Aotearoa and based in Italy, designer Keiji Takeuchi talks about walking sticks, and a world without borders.
“The studio consists of a small group of international talent from diverse cultural backgrounds set up over two floors — one for desk work and meetings, the other for workshops and hands-on model making.
Growing up in New Zealand led me to think more broadly about how to get the most out of what’s available; studying design allowed me to fully utilise material properties, rather than relying on unquestioned mechanical solutions.
I’m interested in finding dialogues between things and users, and I teach students my practice, ‘the second nature of things’ — about how people often engage with things other than for their original intent. By observing such relationships, we open fresh approaches, invite new contexts and create new dialogues. When I draw, I’m not really looking for shapes or design; it’s about depicting what’s in my mind, like a radio player that converts frequency into sound. In our studio, we produce many models to control all executions as a way for me to give shape to the forms and nuances I see in my mind. All our designs are borderless, because life has no borders; only humans made borders to categorise things for our convenience.
Curating the Walking Sticks & Canes show was very purposeful. I’d been collecting walking sticks for some time, just interesting pieces I encountered. After a few years, I started to wonder what the ultimate walking stick would be. What if I could showcase the history of this unique product? Then the global pandemic came and elderly people in Italy were massively hit, particularly in Lombardy, where I live. Once it was over, after a long confinement, many were no longer physically able to walk. I started thinking about putting on a group show to share my own research and invite different points of view to generate debate about improving our quality of life and longevity. At Milan Design Week 2024, the show (with examples by 18 designers, including myself, at Triennale Milano), generated great curiosity. It later travelled to Tokyo, Venice, LA, Michigan, New York, and now Objectspace in Auckland.”
objectspace.org.nz; keijitakeuchi.com
IMAGE ABOVE Showing at Objectspace until August 30, Walking Sticks & Canes features examples by 18 designers that curator Keiji Takeuchi admires.
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