PULSE and the Poetics of Contemporary Japanese Design

In today’s context of design in Japan, an environment that may seem at times threatened by technology’s increasing tendency towards superficiality, there are always designers that opt for slowing down, observing and forming bonds with people as essential instruments of design. And it is in this in-between space that PULSE has been created, a new design studio conceived and designed by two talented Japanese designers, Rikiya Toyoshima and Shomu Taki. 

Their research extends beyond the creation of objects or spaces; it is an investigation into how materials, gestures, and contexts can generate new forms of perception. The name itself, PULSE, suggests an organic and almost biological rhythm that stands in contrast to the linear logic of contemporary production. A pulse that is irregular, alive, capable of producing interference, overlap, and unexpected waves. In an era dominated by global standardization, their approach revives a distinctly Japanese understanding of design — one that sees design not as formal imposition, but as a subtle relationship between matter, space, and human behavior. Graduates from the Kobe Design University, Toyoshima and Taki belong to the younger generation of Japanese designers who operate beyond any specialization, breaking down the boundaries between the craft, architecture, graphic design, and industry. Although their languages are alike, the personal path of each of them demonstrates different perspectives on the world.

Rikiya Toyoshima, born in Fukuoka in 1997, has developed a practice centered on the contemporary reinterpretation of the cultural and material background embedded within objects. After working with the HYBE design team and pursuing independent interior design projects, he continued his research at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts. His work reflects an almost phenomenological sensitivity: an interest in the ambiguous boundaries that emerge between people, places, and time, and in how spaces can become containers of memory and perception. 

Shomu Taki, born in Okayama in 1998, brings a more systemic and multidisciplinary approach. After working at A Studio Design / Shin Azumi, he founded SYOU DESIGN STUDIO, expanding his practice across product design, UI/UX, graphics, packaging, and creative direction for traditional crafts and local industries. His attention is directed toward the cultural function of design - not simply the creation of objects, but the construction of relationships between communities, manufacturing, and local identity.

This duality lies at the core of PULSE itself. On one side, a spatial and atmospheric perspective; on the other, a process-oriented and industrially conscious methodology. Rather than opposing each other, these viewpoints generate productive tension, creating new formal and conceptual possibilities through overlap. Their work demonstrates how contemporary design can still emerge from the friction between different ways of seeing.

A particularly emblematic example of this philosophy was the project presented during DESIGNART TOKYO 2023, developed in collaboration with a fixture manufacturer in Okayama Prefecture specializing in the use of hollow polycarbonate for doors and windows.

Hollow polycarbonate is an industrial material known for its high technical performance: lightweight, durable, thermally insulating, and highly permeable to light, often used as an alternative to glass. However, because every fixture is custom-made, the manufacturing process inevitably generates large quantities of irregular leftover pieces that are difficult to reuse and continuously occupy storage space.

This is where PULSE’s intervention takes on an almost archaeological dimension. Instead of treating the surplus as waste, Toyoshima and Taki reinterpret it as formal and narrative potential. The excess material is processed into thin panels of uniform width, reorganizing not only the physical storage space but also the very meaning of the material itself.

The project incorporates another normally invisible element: the caulking material commonly used to bond glass in interior construction. Inserted into the grooves at the edges of the panels, it creates seamless joints that extend the internal linear patterns of the polycarbonate without interruption. The result is a surface that appears almost immaterial - vibrating through light, rhythm, and continuity.

The resultant product cannot be readily categorized either as furniture or as a material investigation. Rather, it becomes an atmosphere that has the potential to change the perception of space using the tools of translucency, reflection, and replication in modularity. The material, which is typically perceived as anonymous industrious functionality, gets an unexpected character.

Through this project, PULSE clearly articulates its cultural position: design is not about producing spectacular novelty, but about revealing latent possibilities hidden within the existing. Their practice resonates with deeply rooted Japanese concepts - the appreciation of imperfection, transformation, and conscious resourcefulness - while translating them into a contemporary and international language.

The result is a body of work that does not impose definitive forms, but instead creates perceptual conditions. A “quiet wave,” to borrow their own words, capable of subtly altering everyday life through minimal yet deeply sensitive interventions.

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Words: Simone Lorusso