Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and playground brand Jakuets have unveiled a series of sculptural objects for children to climb on, slide down or play with in any way they like, at Milan design week.
Named Yuugu, the collection represents the first collaboration between Fukasawa and Jakuets, a century-old Japanese firm that supplies nursery schools and day care centres with educational materials and play equipment.
At Milan design week, the pieces were presented in an installation called Playful Sculptures in the gardens of the Triennale di Milano museum. It contained the brand’s Piccola outdoor furniture and Fukasawa’s five colourful objects.
The designer’s aim was to create “things that not only attract children, but which children find impossible not to play with”.
To this end, he designed the products’ various shapes, surfaces and openings to allow for a range of interactive possibilities that are left open to interpretation.
“Children find predictability boring,” he explained. “A designer’s role should be no more than laying out sticks and stones.”
The form of the red Omochi design echoes the shape of traditional Japanese rice cakes called mochi. A set of steps and a slide are positioned at the centre of the bulbous object, while children can also attempt to clamber over the rounded outer edges.
“How charming and pleasant to watch children as they try to avoid sliding,” said Fukasawa, “their fingers stretched across the polished surfaces like suckers on the tips of tree frogs.”
Cube is a structure comprising intersecting geometric shapes that children can climb up and slide down, while the sloping inner ring of the Banri object encourages different ways to balance and play.
Children can congregate and play together in the circular Donut, which incorporates a table-like surface at its centre, or they can seek shelter and hide out within the recognisable profile of the House object.
“This project is quite a departure from my previous work, at least on the surface,” said Fukasawa, who is known for his more minimalist work. “But at its core, the approach remains the same.”
“I’ve always been interested in how objects relate to people – how form, material, and subtle cues can invite use without instruction,” he continued.
“It was also a way to return to a more instinctive kind of design, to forget categories, forget purpose, and just make forms that quietly call out: come touch me, come climb me, come be curious.”
The Playful Sculptures installation overlooking Milan’s Parco Sempione provided an opportunity for the general public to experience the products in an urban outdoor setting.
The presentation was part of the annual design week, which also featured an exhibition of imaginative clocks and a collection of pleated cloth lighting by Japanese fashion brand Issey Miyake and Swiss studio Atelier Oï.
Fukasawa is a designer, author and educator known for his considered, user-focused approach to design, as well as his dedication to promoting ethical solutions to everyday problems.
Some of his past projects include furniture with tentacle-like legs for Japanese brand Maruni and a pared-back side table for Italian firm Plank that is assembled from three simple shapes.
Earlier this year, The Philadelphia Museum of Art presented a major retrospective called Things in Themselves, which featured the outcomes of Fuksawa’s collaborations with firms including Muji, Alessi, Magis, Hay, Herman Miller and B&B Italia.
In an interview with Dezeen, Fukasawa said that designers today have an obligation to create responsible products that will be loved for a long time and don’t contribute to harming the natural environment.
Jakuets was founded in 1916 to support the local community in Fukui as it sought to establish nursery schools and workspaces for women. The company uses design to develop stimulating environments that support education.
The photography is by Sohei Oya.
Playful Sculptures is on display at Triennale di Milano museum from 7 to 13 April 2025 as part of Milan design week. See our Milan design week 2025 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.
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