Since founding his own Tokyo-based multi-disciplinary firm, Schemata Architects, in 1998, Jo Nagasaka has completed projects that include architectural builds, large-scale installations, interactive interior environments and furniture design. Bringing his fresh approach to design to every project, Nagasaka is the brains behind the DESCENTE flagship store in Tokyo, the MR PORTER x BEAMS exhibition in London and Danish interior design brand HAY’s store in Tokyo.

Jo Nagasaka has now turned his skilled hand to furniture in an exclusive collaboration with Artek. In the collection, he reimagines Alvar Aalto’s beloved Stool 60, Bench 153B and Tea Trolley 901 using his ColoRing surface treatment. Based on the age-old Japanese craft techniques of Udukuri and Tsugaru-nuri, ColoRing showcases the wood’s natural grain whilst juxtaposing it with surprising colour combinations and irregular patterns.

Originally designed by Alvar Aalto in 1933 and reinterpreted by Jo Nagasaka in 2019, the ColoRing Stool 60 is crafted by Artek, available in a range of colourways and exclusively available at The Conran Shop in the UK to coincide with London Craft Week 2019.

The design celebrates 100 years of strong diplomatic relations between Finland and Japan and makes up part of Artek’s FIN/JPN Friendship Collection, created in collaboration with Japanese and Finnish designers.

Crafted in Finland using solid Finnish birch wood, the seat is finished with a soft-grained pine veneer and transformed using Nagasaka’s innovative ColoRing technique. Up until now, ColoRing had involved a time-consuming, fully-manual process created by fusing the traditional Japanese techniques of udukuri and tsugaru-nuri, but thanks to Artek’s revolutionary manufacturing techniques, the design can now be bought to a wider audience.