Toshiyuki Kita
Toshiyuki Kita is a renowned Japanese industrial designer born in Osaka in 1942. After graduating in Industrial Design from Naniwa College in 1964, he established his own design studio in 1967. His early works, such as the Saruyama Chair (1967) and the Wink Chair (1980), gained international acclaim and are part of the permanent collections at prestigious institutions like the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Kita's designs often blend Eastern and Western aesthetics, incorporating traditional Japanese materials like Washi paper and Urushi lacquer into modern forms. Beyond furniture, he has contributed to various fields, including electronics and robotics, with notable projects like the Aquos LCD TV for Sharp and Wakamaru, the first humanoid domestic robot for Mitsubishi Electric. His contributions to design have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Delta de Oro Gold Prize in 1990 and the Compasso d’Oro International Career Prize in 2011. In 2017, he was honored with the title of Commendatore by the Italian Republic. Currently, Kita serves as a professor at the Osaka University of Arts and continues to promote the revitalization of traditional Japanese crafts and industries through initiatives like the “RENOVETTA” project.