Experiencing ARAKAWA GRIP – Kaori Akiyama | Interviews

The 50th-anniversary project of ARAKAWA GRIP, "50 GRIPS," was conceptualized by a product designer and founder of STUDIO BYCOLOR, Kaori Akiyama. She has been fascinated by the company from the standpoint of product design and proposed a 50th-anniversary commemorative book bound using an ARAKAWA GRIP to create greater product accessibility.
After ten years of designing, developing, and devising color schemes for an office furniture manufacturer, Kaori established her firm in Tokyo after gaining professional experience in the Netherlands. Her design practice ranges from furniture and daily essentials to collaborative work with material manufacturers and traditional handicraft artisans. She explains, "I design everyday household pieces by unpacking why they should be in certain colors and materials." The findings of this approach and perspective are evident in such works as the COYUI series of Buddhist altars, which are compatible with contemporary living spaces and were awarded the iF Design Award Gold 2023 in Germany. Kaori’s first encounter with ARAKAWA GRIP was through an exhibition called Experimental Creations, held on the ground floor of the new headquarters in Omotesando-Tokyo in 2017 as a part of the pre-opening celebration of the building. This exhibition featured both the final product and the designers' creative process through material experimentation, and she has been participating in this project since its launch in 2013. The relationship between the producer of the project, Yumi Ueno, and ARAKAWA GRIP led to the exhibition being held in the framework of the building shortly after its completion and before the relocation of the first-floor office. In the following year, 2018, the project was extended to the TIERS GALLERY on the third floor under the unifying theme of experimenting with ARAKAWA GRIP.

She recalls, "ARAKAWA GRIP exists closely to architects and interior designers. However, as a product designer, I did not have much opportunity to use them in my work and was only aware that they were a type of machined metal fittings. When I studied the products from multiple perspectives, I realized there are countless ways in which it can be utilized, despite its simple structure." Based on her experience in furniture design, she proposed layered shelving for this project. Through experimentation and prototyping, she wondered if it would be possible to combine ARAKAWA GRIP with other materials besides the silver stainless steel wire the product is always paired with. As a fruit of this process, "GRIP on the COLOR" was born. Because of her strong belief in generating possibilities by changing the relationship between people, space, and objects, she decided to replace the stainless-steel wire with something with colors. Ultimately, she selected a leveling string characterized by its vivid color for its usage in construction work. This approach is a creative technique unique to STUDIO BYCOLOR, which expands color options by revisiting the materials. She explained, "ARAKAWA GRIP is a device that holds a wire between three ball bearings, so I imagined some twisted threads could also be attached to it." Almost as if sewing, she threaded the needle with three twisted leveling strings and, through the newly developed ARAKAWA GRIP that was the smallest size that existed at the time, the AU-72, completing the shelf with intersecting colored strings. In 2018, Kaori was commissioned by PMQ, a design community in Hong Kong, to devise a project that began a series of exhibitions entitled MATERIAL IN TIME that showcased Japanese creativity with materials. When the theme for the second exhibition became "metal," she decided to feature ARAKAWA GRIP as the main component of the venue configuration and her relationship with the company blossomed further following the sponsorship arrangement. In 2019, MATERIAL IN TIME's homecoming exhibition was held at TIERS GALLERY after its success in Hong Kong. Around that time, she began to learn about the 50th anniversary of the company's founding. It occurred to her that if more product designers, in addition to architects and interior designers, had a chance to become familiar with ARAKAWA GRIP, it would generate infinite possibilities.

Kaori perceives simple assembly without any use of tools as one of the most prominent features of the ARAKAWA GRIP. Therefore, she proposed arranging a 50th-anniversary commemorative book bound with the ARAKAWA GRIP and wire to create opportunities for people to experience its functionality firsthand. The book would allow readers to physically hold and handle the product and learn about the creations and ambiances originated by the creators using the ARAKAWA GRIP. Thus, the project "50 GRIPS" began with the goal of publication. During interviews and visits to architects' and designers' offices, Akiyama realized greater possibilities ahead for the future of ARAKAWA GRIP. One example of this could be seen at the Milan exhibition, where an exhibition space was designed for the first time featuring ARAKAWA GRIP and wires with a pearl-gold finish. It successfully demonstrated to visitors that a color change can completely transform how a product could appear. In the future, the focus should be on highlighting this product's intrinsic nature, which could be described as a "product made for experience." Therefore, presenting the actual products instead of simply showcasing them online is essential. Kaori recalled how she was inspired by one of the interviewees who expressed the pleasant sensation of operating the ARAKAWA GRIP. It is only clear that physical exposure exceeds beyond texts and videos.
For the 50th anniversary, Kaori invited we+ as a creative team for the exhibition featuring ARAKAWA GRIP with seaweed entitled "Less, Light, Local" at Milan Design Week 2023. In the following September, she commissioned Hiroto Yoshizoe to create a piece utilizing the full potential of the ARAKAWA GRIP to be exhibited, and "ubique" was unveiled. They successfully communicated the fascinating features of ARAKAWA GRIP as an entity that supports creation behind the scenes by hanging, stretching, and more. In 2024, at the Milan Design Week, an exhibition "biblioteca d'Oro" will be planned to show the possibilitie of ARAKAWA GRIP through this book, bringing the 50 GRIPS project to a conclusion. She concludes, "The reader holding this book now may be next in line to open up new possibilities for ARAKAWA GRIP." text by Masaaki Takahashi