Kenmochi Isamu

Isamu Kenmochi is a modernist-designer, one of the first to combine the ideas of European rationalism and traditional Japanese technology. Founder of the Japan Industrial Designers Association. The author of the Rattan Round chair, which became the first object of Japanese design in the collection of New York MoMA.

He was born in Tokyo and graduated fr om Tokyo College of Industrial Arts in 1932. Worked at the Institute of Industrial Arts in Tokyo. In the 1940-1950s he traveled to Europe and the USA. Participated in the formation of the International Design Committee along with Sori Yanagi and other designers. A number of objects were designed in collaboration with the famous sculptor Isamu Noguchi. He actively developed relations with foreign organizations. Collaborated with Yamakawa Rattan. The Rattan Round chair was awarded the prestigious Japanese G-Mark Prize (Good Design Selection System) in 1957 and in 1964 the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired it in their own design collection. In 1955 the designer founded his own bureau Kenmochi Design Associates, wh ere he continued to design furniture.