Two Individuals Crafting with Vulcanized Fiber Around the Same Time, by Chance

A friend showed me an old American hotel keychain made of a very hard material, like a mix of paper and resin fiber, apparently called vulcanized fiber. I'd been fond of that material ever since. When I met designer Shigeki Fujishiro, he already knew about it and showed me his stool 'eiffel,' made from a hard pulp material quite similar to it.

It's paper, yet its texture conveys a distinctly industrial image. The addition of screws further enhances this industrial feel. It's reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower, or perhaps the framework of the Golden Gate Bridge. And the price, made possible by its paper composition, is also appealing.

Fujishiro's designs take shape through his mock-up creations, guided by his unique perspective on materials and functionality. This was also evident with the various folding stools he showed me previously; his approach of focusing on the interesting aspects of movement and discovering his own forms from them is fascinating to me, who primarily creates box-like structures.

While 'eiffel' currently exists in just one version, he seems to be considering a series using this material, and I eagerly anticipate its completion.