Designer Insights: The Future of Offices
Vol.5 The cutting edge of sustainable furniture and interior products
Unglazed porcelain created by mixing in iron: matte with a sense of light and shade for a novel look
Even workshops using advanced technology have a loss rate of around 10% when working with porcelain. This is because it is difficult to completely eliminate black iron speckles created during firing and pinholes resulting from bubbles in the glaze. The brand SEISEISHA, part of the Hizen Yoshida Porcelain tradition in Saga Prefecture, has approached this problem through the development of a new material based on novel ways of thinking.
SEISEISHA’s new type of clay, named Seido, was born of the idea to reverse conventional thinking: additional iron powder is kneaded into the clay beforehand, and the look produced by iron is presented as a distinctive feature of the material. Additionally, materials such as feldspar are mixed in to create a finish that stains do not stick to – without the use of a glaze coating. By eliminating the two main causes of material loss, the loss rate has been successfully reduced to a 1% level. Furthermore, the material is 1.5 times stronger than conventional porcelain, and with fewer firings being needed thanks to the omission of a glaze, CO2 emissions are 40% lower.
The first product introducing this material to the world is a line of simple tableware, practical for those starting a new phase in life, announced in 2023. It was designed by Shin Azumi, a product designer who has worked on furniture for office and home use as well as household items and has clients around the world.
“With this product, we have paid attention not only to the material, but also to ease of use and stackability. In addition to home users, we have orders coming in from restaurants as well”, says Satoshi Tsuji of 224 porcelain, the owner of SEISEISHA.