The output of Tokyo-based designer Fumie Shibata of Studio S stretches over 15 years and consists of all the things from leather-based faculty baggage and suitcases to crystal paper weights, bamboo-shaped glass lighting and even capsule motels – many introduced within the perceptively named monograph Varieties inside Varieties.
For her newest creation for Italian firm Flexform, she has designed a shelf inside a mirror – to be introduced at Salone del Cellular 2026 – showcasing her distinctive tender, but very exact shapes. Its title, ‘Soreto’ means ‘and likewise’ or ‘along with that’, reflecting each its multipurpose operate, and its connection to the remainder of the interiors, or what the designer calls a ‘boundary blur’.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Flexform)
‘A mirror is, by nature, a planar object that belongs to the wall. It displays house, but hardly ever participates in it,’ explains Shibata. ‘With this design, we sought to softly shift that relationship: reasonably than ending the sting as a easy body, it’s launched right into a horizontal airplane – a shelf – permitting the mirror to quietly step out from the wall into the room.
‘This isn’t merely an addition of operate, however the insertion of one other layer onto the wall – blurring boundaries whereas introducing rhythm into house. A mirror for each day rituals, and likewise… a shelf that receives objects. A tool that displays house, and likewise… furnishings that offers it depth.’
Softly connecting airplane and quantity, wall and furnishings, ‘Soreto’ is made from curved sheet steel clad in cowhide out there in all the colors of the Flexform assortment. Designed to furnish areas together with hallways, bedrooms and loos, it is available in numerous sizes, and is a part of a brand new household of equipment comprising benches and garments stands.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Flexform)
Shibata’s different designs for Flexform embrace ‘Eri’, an enveloping armchair impressed by elegantly uplifted jacket lapels, and ‘Enn’, a round desk with a conical base named after a Japanese phrase for connection and concord.
