moon

Shigeru Ban 2010
M226B

Sometimes I think my work contains a paradox. Although I usually approach architecture as an industrial designer, over the course of my career I have not designed many industrial products. The handle for Olivari is an exception. The intersection between architecture and design is not exactly the source of my inspiration; rather it is the simplicity of the shape.

  • MATERIALBrass

  • TYPOLOGYRound

MOON, 2010

At first glance, the handle seems ultra elementary. An element with an elliptical section comes forward from a circular rose. At one fourth of the length of the handle, it bends by 90 degrees to form the grip, maintaining its elliptical section. The handle ends sliced neatly by 45 degrees, revealing a cut with a circular shape.

— Curtain Wall House, Tokyo 1995

— Shigeru Ban

his is the circular core implicit in the ellipse. I was inspired by the art of tameshigiri, the challenging Japanese art of cutting with a sword. I attempted to imitate that way of revealing the essence of an object at one fell swoop, an instantaneous act that in many traditional Japanese arts is a symbol of beauty.

— Japan Pavillion, Expo 2000, Hannover 2000

It requires a steady hand and a clear mind.— Shigeru Ban

— Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2010

— Nomadic Museum Santa Monica, Los Angeles 2006

M226B