Tawaraya Ring is a domestic “boxing ring.” Masanori Umeda’s aim was to create “a space that is furniture at the same time,” a ring “for intellectual combat.” As a conversational metaphor, Tawaraya Ring sets the stage for Memphis’s battle to revolutionize design.
A hybrid of East and West, Tawaraya Ring is based on the proportions of the tatami mat – about 1500 x 900 mm – referencing the modular unit for the sizing of rooms in Japan since the late 14th century: an archetypal, rational dimension for a space in which to eat, live and sleep. In wood with decorative black and white laminated stripes, Ring provides a precise area determined by the raised perimeter of “ropes” in metal and lacquered wood, with lighting at the sides. Inside the ring, five traditional Japanese tatami mats in woven straw are enhanced by silk-covered cushions, with a wooden tray at the center.
An unusual and very successful piece, Ring achieved exceptional fame when it appeared in a magazine, where Karl Lagerfeld was shown standing in his shoes at the center of his Tawaraya in his Monte Carlo flat – in spite of the fact that in Japan shoes are removed before entering the living space.
