Maruni
Maruni is a Japanese manufacturer that aims to create furniture that combines robustness with lightness and finesse and to create designs that will still be relevant in a hundred years. With almost a century of experience in high-quality wooden furniture production, no concessions are made in terms of form, seating comfort and finish. Their most famous product in which all these characteristics come together is the timeless Hiroshima dining chair designed by Naoto Fukasawa.
maruni philosophy and their designers
Maruni is looking for the highest possible quality of wooden furniture and that is achieved through the marriage of craftsmanship and technology that is traditionally deeply rooted in the brand and their thorough knowledge and fascination of and for wood.
Naoto Fukasawa started his collaboration with Maruni in 2006 and subsequently became the first art director of the international branch Maruni Wood Industry where he presented his famous Hiroshima chair as part of the first international collection in 2008. This collection was partly created in collaboration with Jasper Morrison who later became co-art director.
For thirteen years, they were also the only two to design the annually growing collection of furniture. In 2022, a new table and chair by successful Danish designer Cecilie Mainz was added and she also joined as co-art director of the Maruni Wood Industry collection. In addition, the collection also includes the shoe-horn by Nendo and the Sanaa chair from the Maruni Next exhibition in 2005.
the models and their applications
The more than ten furniture collections that the brand is rich in have an extensive program. There are chairs and stools, high and low, with and without armrests and upholstered or not in a large scale of fabrics. Each collection also has its own tables in several sizes and there are a few additional tables such as the new monumental solid wood SETO conference table that Naoto originally designed for his own office.
When Jasper Morrison designed his very idiosyncratic Fugu series (which is a Japanese fish dish), his friend Naoto Fukasawa designed the Tako series which means octopus and you can see that in the organic shape of the legs.
All models are also available in several types of wood and finishes so the choice is really huge. The internationally very successful Hiroshima chair, one of the most important new classics of this century, is available in beech, oak or walnut wood finished with a urethane lacquer or an oil, natural, black or whitish. Apple has chosen the beech urethane whitish version as the base chair for their headquarters in Cupertino. Other collections are also available in maple or ash.
The high-quality design and diversity of the collections makes them, in addition to residential use, also very suitable for hospitality projects and work environments where people are prepared to invest in sustainable quality.
THE CRAFTSMANSHIP AND HISTORY OF MARUNI
Maruni was founded in 1933 by Takeo Yamanake, who grew up in the Hiroshima area, with a rich tradition of woodworking and was fascinated by the possibilities of wood and the shape it can take from an early age. It emerged from Showa bentwood, the bentwood factory that had been making furniture in a traditional way until then.
After studying mechanical engineering at university, Yamanake researched the developments in furniture made from bentwood, a special and new process at the time. He also studied European and especially German techniques in depth.
With his knowledge of mechanical engineering and wooden furniture, the name of the traditional factory was changed to Maruni in 1933. From then on, the focus was on high-quality industrial furniture production with a Western slant, but always with a traditional sense of beauty. In the nineties, the focus on Japanese ideas and aesthetics became more important again.
In 2004 Next Maruni was launched, inviting a selection of top international designers to design chairs for a presentation at the 2005 Milan Furniture Fair. This was Maruni’s introduction to the international scene, and three years later it launched as Maruni Wood Industrie with designs by Naoto Fukasawa and Jasper Morrison.
Maruni is a Japanese manufacturer that aims to create furniture that combines robustness with lightness and finesse and to create designs that will still be relevant in a hundred years. With almost a century of experience in high-quality wooden furniture production, no concessions are made in terms of form, seating comfort and finish. Their most famous product in which all these characteristics come together is the timeless Hiroshima dining chair designed by Naoto Fukasawa.
maruni philosophy and their designers
Maruni is looking for the highest possible quality of wooden furniture and that is achieved through the marriage of craftsmanship and technology that is traditionally deeply rooted in the brand and their thorough knowledge and fascination of and for wood.
Naoto Fukasawa started his collaboration with Maruni in 2006 and subsequently became the first art director of the international branch Maruni Wood Industry where he presented his famous Hiroshima chair as part of the first international collection in 2008. This collection was partly created in collaboration with Jasper Morrison who later became co-art director.
For thirteen years, they were also the only two to design the annually growing collection of furniture. In 2022, a new table and chair by successful Danish designer Cecilie Mainz was added and she also joined as co-art director of the Maruni Wood Industry collection. In addition, the collection also includes the shoe-horn by Nendo and the Sanaa chair from the Maruni Next exhibition in 2005.
the models and their applications
The more than ten furniture collections that the brand is rich in have an extensive program. There are chairs and stools, high and low, with and without armrests and upholstered or not in a large scale of fabrics. Each collection also has its own tables in several sizes and there are a few additional tables such as the new monumental solid wood SETO conference table that Naoto originally designed for his own office.
When Jasper Morrison designed his very idiosyncratic Fugu series (which is a Japanese fish dish), his friend Naoto Fukasawa designed the Tako series which means octopus and you can see that in the organic shape of the legs.
All models are also available in several types of wood and finishes so the choice is really huge. The internationally very successful Hiroshima chair, one of the most important new classics of this century, is available in beech, oak or walnut wood finished with a urethane lacquer or an oil, natural, black or whitish. Apple has chosen the beech urethane whitish version as the base chair for their headquarters in Cupertino. Other collections are also available in maple or ash.
The high-quality design and diversity of the collections makes them, in addition to residential use, also very suitable for hospitality projects and work environments where people are prepared to invest in sustainable quality.
THE CRAFTSMANSHIP AND HISTORY OF MARUNI
Maruni was founded in 1933 by Takeo Yamanake, who grew up in the Hiroshima area, with a rich tradition of woodworking and was fascinated by the possibilities of wood and the shape it can take from an early age. It emerged from Showa bentwood, the bentwood factory that had been making furniture in a traditional way until then.
After studying mechanical engineering at university, Yamanake researched the developments in furniture made from bentwood, a special and new process at the time. He also studied European and especially German techniques in depth.
With his knowledge of mechanical engineering and wooden furniture, the name of the traditional factory was changed to Maruni in 1933. From then on, the focus was on high-quality industrial furniture production with a Western slant, but always with a traditional sense of beauty. In the nineties, the focus on Japanese ideas and aesthetics became more important again.
In 2004 Next Maruni was launched, inviting a selection of top international designers to design chairs for a presentation at the 2005 Milan Furniture Fair. This was Maruni’s introduction to the international scene, and three years later it launched as Maruni Wood Industrie with designs by Naoto Fukasawa and Jasper Morrison.