Today I wanted to tip you off to a great new find: Truck Furniture from Japan. While not available in the US yet, the buzz has already started. I heard about Truck from Paul Gelinas yesterday at breakfast. Paul, who started Lost & Found in Bejing, considers Truck "the shit." They inspire him with their aesthetic and their smarts. Here's the scoop.
"Challenging most people's expectations of Japanese furniture designers, Tokuhiko Kise and Hiromi Karatsu have combined sustainability with a very European retro feel to produce a complete range of furniture. Their Truck label has become a household name in Japan and many pundits feel that its success will be mirrored here in Europe"
- via LagomDesign
"You already have a taste for Japanese clothing; now it's time to move on to furniture, specifically the kind produced by Osaka-based Truck. The company's $25 catalog—shot in the home of co-owner Tokuhiko Kise—has a cult following in Tokyo, where the spare metal-and-wood wares influenced by retro hospital chairs and garage-sale finds are almost as hard to come by as they are in the United States."
- via Details
"TRUCK FURNITURE is an independently-run furniture store/brand from Osaka, Japan, that retains the original flavour of its materials and produces furniture that are beautiful and natural-looking. i am lusting for everything in their catalog…..
they also have a second store/showroom, Area2, and a cafe called Bird Coffee, which i am hoping to visit as soon as i hit Osaka!"
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Comments (25)
'...Paul...considers Truck the shit'?! Is that some new expression used today?
Stunning! A great find, indeed. Thanks for sharing.
"new find"???? Didn't you guys cover truck last year? Pics of maybe a sofa and one or two casegoods? I have a japanese site bookmarked for them and I was pretty sure I heard about them here. Anyway, last year when I checked they were super high end, very spendy; I'm too scared to even look at the prices now! It is such eye-candy, though.
Just because someone one considers a design "guru" has such a limited vocabulary and vision that he resorts to profanity to make his point, does not mean that it's a worthwhile sentence to quote. The other day we had a posting from San Francisco (I believe) that said "Screw the lava lamp." I read this blog for design and using appropriate language enhances the experience.
Yes great find I really love many of these pieces especially that desk and swivel chair combo.
ok wow just saw their shop I could live in that space its perfect.
i think the new slang is, "truck the shit", as in "how much would it cost to truck the shit to my place from Osaka".
and i consider that language perfectly appropriate.
That leather chair... WANT. Gorgeous stuff.
(I also think the language is fine and actually kind of amusing.)
so, what's the poop on "the shit" ?
New? The simplicity and craftsmanship of Truck furniture is divine. I wish it were easier to get in the US!
This post is the shit! Seriously, I hope I can afford something from Truck when it reaches our shores. Or Europe's shores.
"Is that some new expression used today?"
Grandpa! There you are!
Love the desk chair. Will never be able to afford it.
You language police need to relax. This is a contemporary site. I love the lack of rigid formality.
By the way..Truck IS the shit.
I want it all - really cool stuff. Is the catalog available yet? New to your site - where have I been??!!! Great job!
I"m not really into the "sparse" aesthetic. I like my furniture comfy, and I don't want to worry about bruises if I bump into it. (This is also why I eschew glass top tables.)
I eschew glass tables because they're f*ckin' ugly, not because they're not "comfy". So much of this stuff would look just as at home in a really cluttered, comfy, eclectic room. Specimen drawer-type thing, I'm looking at you.
Let us know when they come to the U.S. I could definitely use a few of those pieces even though my home is very, very small. It's a great, simple look that would complement any number of decors. And it doesn't look like the furniture found in every one else's living room. If it is priced right,
I'd agree that it's the shit.
This is the funniest and "funnest" comment thread I've read on AT in a while! Love it. (Grammar police, please don't cite me for "funnest" -- meant in jest, haha).
Really nice furniture and the scale of each piece tends to be smaller to fit Japanese homes though would be perfect for small space - apartment living here. If Truck ever offers their work here, I'd gobble it up.
This forniture is wonderfully charming in all:style, materials, essentiality.I would like some of these pieces, but most of all the drawers, that, even alone, can make the right change in every house.
Please, someone who is handy with this sort of thing, a Venn diagram showing the overlap between AT commentators as a whole / AT commentators who clench their jaw when they see the word "shit" in print / AT commentators who clench their jaw and leave a huffy comment about "resorting to profanity" / AT commentators who freak out every time a post shows books in a bathroom because all they can think of is how they're collecting massive, massive amounts of gross, gross, super-gross germs.
As for the expression that something cool is "the shit," my mom in suburban Connecticut has used it once or twice so I think it's safe to say it's been around for a long time now!
Whoa, back up you guys! It was an honest question-no need to beat me up over it! Now that it's been edited and 'the shit' is is quotes, it makes sense.
oh wow...wish I could find some neighborhood craftsman who could replicate these pieces at a low-end price. Which neighborhood do you live in? Tijuana? ;-)
Sydney feels soooo far away from Osaka! :o( Would love to be browsing the showroom...