Yama Sideboard
It is common in Japan for people to have a spiritual relationship to nature. Mount Fuji, Japan’s most iconic mountain, has help a special significance for its people.
Yama means ‘mountain’ in Japanese. And it is Mount Fuji, specifically, that inspired the facade of this cabinet.
This cabinet is made in cherry, with opaque acrylic boards in the front. Usuually, washi paper is used instead of acrylic, but the client has young children and chose the harder acrylic for durability. The design itself was made in tandem with the customer. She wanted only a small part of the cabinet to have kumiko, which is why the kumiko design in the front is kept to a minimum. It is not only the positive space that is speaking, the negative space is just as important.
The sketches below show some initial designs we were considering.
