The first furniture piece designed by sculptor Masayuki Nagare. He designed the prototype himself, and and began development with Asahikawa furniture makers in October 2005. Before he could create this iconic chair with none of the ordinary aesthetic features present in everyday furniture, half a year was spent in continuous efforts to make this work of art into a product. In particular, meticulous attention was paid to ensure that the line from the backrest to the arms was not overly smooth. In order to provide an artistic appearance of tension to the front legs and seat, a “ridgeline” that creates light and shadow is a prominent feature of this chair.
Unlike a sculpture that is not meant to be touched, this chair is built to hold the human body. Strength and comfort were some of the main conditions in its design. Using carefully selected top-grade Walnut wood to ensure the chair will maintain suitable strength, fine quality construction and woodworking techniques are applied.
Standard Size
Born in 1923, Masayuki Nagare was interested in swordsmithing and old style martial arts from a young age. In 1955, he opened his first solo exhibition, "Aviation Space." He moved to New York in 1963, and later continued his creative work in Japan when he invited George Nakashima to "Minguren" in Shikoku. In 1972, he created the "Cloud Fortress" sculpture at the World Trade Center.
In 1978, while in Hokkaido, he met Minoru Nagahara, who managed a furniture making company in Asahikawa. Since then, he strengthened his ties with Hokkaido, carrying out a central role in a project to build sculpture parks on Okushiri Island and Onuma. In 2004 at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, he opened the "NANMOSA Ryumasa Exhibition," and reimagined the Cloud Fortress as "Cloud Fortress, Jr." In 2006, with the cooperation of the people of Asahikawa, he created the NAGARE Chair, which he had been envisioning for many years.
