Conde House Japan– Author –

Have you ever used the portrait mode of your Iphone camera? It uses the combination of two different lenses, plus data algorithm to reach an effect similar to what the optical lens of high-end cameras makes. Even though it's still a not-...

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel survived the Great Kanto Earthquake on its opening day in $1923$ due to his innovative floating structure—a profound, immediate validation of his genius. Seeing the meticulous carvings, I recall the dictum: "God is in the details." This detail-orientation is a Japanese trait (our furniture is "full of God"), but it’s a paradox: some Japanese products, like certain cars, excel in detail yet "can't see the wood for the trees," resulting in a poor overall design. This is the Japanese Paradox: excelling at the micro-level while sometimes faltering at the macro-level. We strive to master both the detail and the clean, coherent form.

【Tense chemistry made in the process】 No matter how many times they have gone through the same process, the product development team gets tense when presenting the first prototype of a new design to designers and receiving their initia...

About this time last year, when I was still a student, I volunteered to help out at the Higashikawa-Town cycling competition. These were my friends from China, Taiwan and Vietnam. It was the first time I worked as a volunteer in Japan. W...

【The identity of hydra】 Do you know creatures called hydra? Even if being cut in pieces (three, for example), they completely re-produces the three fragments to become three organisms, namely three hydras. If we acquire the super abili...

【Collaboration with Riki Watanabe】 The above is the full-scale drawing of the RIKI WINDSOR collection, one of our chair collections. The development started in 1981 as the first collaboration project with a late renowned Japanese produ...

I have always been a city kid since I was born. I used to walk through a concrete city and barely get any chance to see nature. One of my hobbies at that time is to go to concerts in a stadium holding thousands of people. Once in a while...

Japan ranks last in G7 labor productivity—a price we pay for being pathologically detail-oriented. We illustrate this paradox with police exhibits: The Japanese criminal display is a museum piece; the Canadian one is just evidence. Discover why this neurotic trait is the "proof of quality" that makes our perfectly aligned tool racks—and our high-end furniture—a subject of foreign awe. We are sacrificing the forest for the millimeter.

【The one and only piece of furniture】 "Could you engrave the names of all family members on the back of the tabletop?" This inquiry well expresses the character of IPPONGI, one of our table collections. People who order this collection...

While I was walking to work, it started raining cats and dogs. The road became muddy and suddenly the walk to work felt longer than ever. Just like the majority of the people, I personally dislike rain since I was a kid. Rain ruins plans...