Riki Watanabe (1911 – 2013)
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So far, clocks are the only vintage pieces by Watanabe I've been able to dig up.
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A Watanabe retrospective exhibition was held in 2006. It celebrated his 60+ years of design.
After graduating from Tokyo Higher School of Art and Design in wood crafts, Watanabe worked with Bruno Taut, a German architect who had fled to Japan to escape the Nazis. Although he was well versed in the modernist ideals of the Bauhaus, Watanabe wanted to translate them into the Japanese culture. In 1949 he started his own design studio.
Watanabe was involved in the formation of many of Japan's important design organizations, including the Japan Industrial Designers Association (1952) and the International Design Committee (1953). Masaru Katsumie, Isamu Kenmochi, Yusaku Kamekura, and Sori Yanagi were fellow founding members of the International Design Committee, which became the Good Design Committee (1959) and later the Japan Design Committee (1963).
Rope chair, 1952 - "A low-cost item of furniture that struck a balance between Japanese traditions (low-level seating and natural materials) and a contemporary aesthetic."
Source: Riki Watanabe: Innovating in Modern Living
1954
Source: Riki Watanabe: Innovating in Modern Living
1967
Source: Riki Watanabe: Innovating in Modern Living
Q was the name of Watanabe's design firm
The cardboard Riki Stool (1965) for children and the great solid stool (1954) have been reproduced, but what's the fun in buying new stuff? His watch designs from the 2000s are also readily available.
