Chair of
Architectural Behaviorology

At the first seminar held on June 14th, participating authors were given a unique assignment to design and build a chair and bring it to the seminar venue, the Tanikawa House. Each participant responded to this challenge by creating their own original chair.

Below, we present their works.

The recorded video:

List of Chairs:

MOON
by Yutaro Muraji

Inspired by a space where an abstract roof meets a rugged, undulating floor, a one-legged stool was crafted by combining a moon-like, pure white circular object brought from Tokyo with a single tree branch found on site.

The seat is not fixed at a specific angle—it wobbles and shifts. This instability reflects Shinohara’s statement that “Here, only the numerical values of inclination and the differences in height are real.” The seat tilts within a 1:100 scale to express a height difference (head) of 1.2 meters across a horizontal span of 9 meters. On drawings, the seat may appear horizontal or aligned with the slope, though in reality, deviations occur due to the irregular form of the tree branch.

Steel (SPCC), t = 2 mm; tree branch found on site

H: Varies depending on the found branch typically around 500–600 mm, Seat diameter of 200 mm (Φ200)

 

A seat for Tanikawa House
by 2m26

Tanikawa house soil room is a space to move, to dance. Refer to slope floor is an anti chair space, only a pure point can fit in.

A rounded stool made from natural log to connect with volcanic soil.

A natural element in an ambiguous space.

Hinoki log
43cm by 21cm diameter

 

w/028 CS
by Shimpei Terada (w/100-1-1000)

A pedestal for Peter Brook’s book, which can also be used for sitting.

The bottom surface slopes and the top surface has a niche for the book. The slope of the sides is designed to fit the dimensions of an open book.

polystyrene foam, grayboard

w220 x d230 x h225(195)

 

Packing material chair
by Yusuke Fujita (Camp Design inc.)

My office also runs a fittings manufacturer, so I made a chair using packaging materials I had in my office. The design was mainly based on three rules.

・Light things

・Don’t use mechanical tools

・Can be folded into an easy-to-carry shape

plastic cardboard, duct tape, bubble wrap, polypropylene band, styrofoam, plywood

W=400, D=400, H=350

 

Stool Zero
by Ryo Oyama

Shinohara said that the summer room of Tanikawa House is the collision/encounter of two different systems: the inorganic 45° taken as the roof slope, and the organic approximately 7° slope of the land.

Between these two systems, I came up with the idea of a cylindrical seat as a third system that does not depend on the angle (=Zero dimension).

Because the surface where the buttocks touch the seat is smaller, the cushion is wrapped on the deerskin for comfort. In addition, the legs were removed and disassembled into four cylinders for easy transportation.

The impression of the three legs changes depending on the direction of view, as if the chair itself is wandering and dancing on the slope.

wood, deerskin, urethane
w63,d41,h56

 

Offcuts on Topolines
by Tamotsu Ito

Setting LVL in parallel with soil topoline, then freely putting a cedar plate on top, with a triangular pine stick leg to loosely fit into any uneven floor conditions. / Offcuts come from our office.

3 timber offcuts (cedar/pine/LVL), 1 hinge, 6 screws

600x600x240mm max (in use)

600x150x120mm (carrying)

 

Charred paulownia chair
by Yusuke Oka (chidori studio)

This chair is made from charred paulownia wood, a material traditionally used in Japanese crafts. It was designed specifically for placement inside the Summer Room of the Tanigawa House, where volcanic ash is spread across the floor. The deep black color of the ash—resulting from natural chemical changes—resonated with the dark surface of the charred paulownia, inspiring the choice of material. Paulownia is also one of the lightest woods, making the chair easy to carry. To accommodate the sloped floor of the room, one leg was made shorter for better stability.

Charred paulownia

Φ300 x H200

 

Hinoki stool
by Rie Allison / ara

A stool for sitting for a moment on the soft, sloping ash. The clash of shapes, the softness of the edge, the scent of cypress, the pleasure of sitting.

cypress

320 x 180(+127) x h270mm

 

Cardboard Tube Stool
by Norihisa Kawashima + Nori Architects

A compact, lightweight three-legged chair with a cylindrical seat for stability on slopes. Made of cardboard tubes and 3D-printed joints, with a vivid green accent inspired by Kazuo Shinohara.

Cardboard tube + 3D printed pieces

setup｜W375,D200,H350

stored｜L375,Φ105

 

Rice rack log chaise longue
by SAWADEE

The rice rack logs have been used in the mud of rice fields for many years, and are wood materials that have a high affinity with the soil. This material was cut into 400mm widths, joined together, and made into this chaise longue. This chaise longue gives a new point of view at Tanigawa’s house.

Rice rack logs, rope, wire

400mm x 75mm x 2000mm

 

Yurayura Chair
by Nami Ibata/5boc architectS

A chair that stabilizes only when sat on.

Four plywood pieces, carried like a bag.

Designed for sloped floors and playful balance.

Hinoki plywood

325φ

 

Magic
by Natsuo Yoshida

This chair was designed as a device that amplifies the spatial sensibility perceived by visitors within the main room (summer), with consideration given to portability and ease of assembly.

The square seat, while intentionally disconnected from the room’s floor plan or grid layout, echoes the cross-sections of the columns and the square patterns in the structural walls.

The legs are made of transparent acrylic to create visual permeability, subtly distancing the chair from the physical act of placement. The leg tips, inspired by the building’s column bases, are dyed grey using an iron mordant so that they visually blend into the floor.

The seat is made of Dolphin Coat, a coated softwood plywood finished in a vivid green, which is a standard color indicating the use of domestic Japanese larch.

This hue, while seemingly distinct within the room, resonates with the surrounding landscape of Karuizawa, where larch trees are abundant, creating new layers of perception.

Larch Plywood (Dolphin Court),Acrylic, Hexagonal Bolt. Cypress（Iron Mordant）

350×350×438㎜

 

7.595°
by Takahiro kai (studio arche)

The slope of the ground in Tanikawa House, “1.5m drop for 9m north-south horizontal distance” is 7.595° in terms of angle.

We considered designing a chair that used only this angle and a right angle.

This angle, similar to that of a lounge chair on a horizontal floor, becomes a horizontal surface in the ground in Tanikawa House.

On a horizontal floor, the seat’s angle would resemble that of a lounge chair. However, when placed in Tanikawa House, becomes a horizontal surface.

“Within the geometric space, absurdity functions amid the misalignments.”

Oak, Volcanic ash

W450×D450×H500 (SH360, AH500)

 

Pipes Vibes
by Ryo Ishitobi / WANKARASHIN

This stool is made by assembling cylinders.

Its geometry allows it to adapt to the slope of the Tanikawa House.

After the workshop, it can also be used as an umbrella stand.

PVC pipe, strapping band

W333 × D240 × H160 (mm)

 

stool for T
by Wataru Doi

Composed with geometric dimensions using available materials. An angled rod keeps it level, resulting in a mushroom-like appearance.

Oak wood

W300 D300 H350

 

“Rouge” and “Naruto”
by Takahito Miyagishima

I designed a sculptural object—not purely functional—inspired by Rouge and Naruto*, to inhabit a slope where the very context of “chair” breaks down.

*A Japanese cylindrical fish cake with a ruffled circular edge.

**Another chair, titled Rouge, also exists—an upright red cylinder not shown in the photo.

PLA (Polylactic acid fiber)

W290*D290*H350

 

Bundle of Sway
by Siena Hirao

This chair is a prototype of the basic work of “drawing out a new bundle of relationships from fluctuations and noise”. With slightly swaying my current low technology for handling straw, I draw out a bundle of relationships between rice straw, humans, and the earthen floor of Tanikawa House.

Rice straw, Hemp rope

Diameter 30cm, Hight 20cm

 

A ready-made balance ball
by amugis, a Japanese producer

Without a conversion of use, this balance ball is not a ready-made object in Duchamp’s view. I didn’t even compress two hemispheres thermally into one: my colleagues in Hamamatsu just gave me a decoration after their exhibition. However, I hoped this sphere with a metallic look would float slightly above a slant against gravity and display an independent geometry within Shinohara’s abstract space, which confronts the geomorphological reality. The rationality in his space always confronts, includes, or conceals irrational factors, such as home life, urban chaos, and the caprice of the Earth. Acquiring surface tension through the intake of room air, a folded PVC bag retrieves a half-meter diameter and is wrapped with floor ashes unexpectedly. There is no harmony in this phenomenon but rather an antagonistic — or at least parallel — simultaneity.

PVC／polyvinyl chloride

adjustable size

 

Wood Sample Chair
by Wood: Amemiya Makiho, Envelope: Gaku Inoue, Production Associate: Kenta Kashiwazaki

I repackaged a set of wood samples that had been made for a chair I was designing for a friend, turning them into a cushioned chair. Originally, these samples were merely prototypes made for a chair, never intended to become a chair themselves. Wrapped in packing materials, they found a way to become a chair in a different form.

Wood, Sample Table, Minafoam, Masking Tape

D 90 W350 H30