SOU by Teruhiro Yanagihara
Take a piece of furniture apart down to its most basic components, and put it back together step by step. Teruhiro Yanagihara’s sofa Sou, designed for Offecct, is constructed in different layers to make it possible to freely create different shapes and functions for public environments.
Teruhiro Yanagihara has a background in spatial design and architecture and always thinks about rooms and surfaces, rather than individual objects. As in his previous collection for Offecct, Osaka, the new Sou sofa is based on a spatial perspective where the furniture works as a flexible jigsaw puzzle.
“My idea was to start with the sofa’s most basic parts and let the different shapes and functions overlap in layers. The seat is a little higher, so it goes particularly well in restaurants and waiting rooms.”
Teruhiro Yanagihara
The image that Teruhiro Yanagihara had in mind during the process was a mille-feuille, a French pastry of many layers which can be varied in different ways. The name ‘Sou’ comes from the Japanese ‘chisou’ which means ‘stratum’, with the prefix ‘chi’ (base) and the suffix ‘sou’ (layer).
“It’s about how the sofa is designed, but also the fact that it can have different uses and expressions depending on how you choose to combine the different layers. Since the seat and backrest are separated, you can choose different colours of fabric or different finishes on the table part, for instance.”
Teruhiro Yanagihara
He also emphasizes the similarity between Japanese and Scandinavian design tradition when it comes to reducing rather than adding to the product. Sou, with its simple shape, is given a timeless and easy-to-place expression, while also being a sustainable design choice with lower consumption of resources and materials.
Teruhiro Yanagihara founded his company in Japan in 2002 to develop his own visions about design. He works with domestic and international clients alike, and likes to operate across boundaries and cultures to create encounters between design, industry and craftsmanship. He has a strong global presence and has worked for Offecct previously, as well as for brands such as Pallucco, Sergio Rossi, Wallpaper, Karimoku New Standard and Arita.
About Offecct Offecct was founded in 1990 by Kurt Tingdal and Anders Englund. Offecct has a 20,000 m2 production facility and a yearly revenue of SEK 150 million. 50% of Offecct’s sales comprise exports to more than 50 countries, and showrooms are situated in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Oslo (NO), Copenhagen (DK), Milan (IT), London (UK), Rotterdam and Amsterdam (NL), Düsseldorf and Munich (DE), Zurich (CH), New York (US) and Singapore (SG). Since May 2017 Offecct has been a part of Flokk, an international group of companies with a focus on developing furniture for working places.
About Flokk Flokk is the market leader in the design, development and production of workplace furniture in Europe. Flokk is the proud owner of product brands HÅG, RBM, RH, BMA, Giroflex, Malmstolen, Offecct, Profim and 9to5 Seating. About 2 500 employees work together to realize the vision of the company: Inspire great work. Flokk’s head office is in Oslo, Norway and production units in Røros (Norway); in Los Angeles (United States); in Turek (Poland); in Guangdong (China) and in Tibro and Nässjö (Sweden). In addition, Flokk keep sales offices in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, UK, France, Switzerland, Dubai, Singapore, USA, China and Australia. Flokk products are sold in more than 50 countries. In 2018 the total turnover was close to NOK 3 billion.