COMMON

The Carton Furniture Series (C.F.S) was designed by Riki Watanabe in 1965. He made the recyclable material cardboard very strong with its perfect structure. Strong enough to use as a chair, but also light enough for children to play with, the Riki stool can be assembled easily and then folded away compactly. This stool is used in many ways also in a variety of public areas and workshops.  

Riki Watanabe

After having graduated from the Woodcraft Department at Tokyo Higher School of Arts and Design (nowadays: Chiba University), he joined Gunma Prefecture Industrial Arts Center where Bruno Taut was working in 1936. In 1949, Watanabe established his own designing studio. He got famous by the low-cost String Chair in 1952. Watanabe's Torii Stool and Circular Center Table won the Gold Medal at Triennale di Milano in 1957. Besides interior and furniture design, Watanabe has also designed clocks and watches. His 1972 design, Hibiya Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Company's pole clock is defined as one of Watanabe's major works. Watanabe is considered to be one of the pioneers of after-war Japanese design.