Bamboo Chair designed by Ubunji Kidokoro in Japan in 1937, while he was working in the furniture design department of Mitsukoshi.

Influenced by Alvar Aalto's experiments with bent wood, particularly his Model 31 armchair, Kidokoro adapted the cantilever principle to Japanese bamboo. The construction makes use of the material's natural flexibility: slender bamboo strips form the seat and backrest, while bent structural elements create the base and armrests in a continuous movement.

Considered one of Kidokoro's major works, the chair also holds an important place in the exchange between European modernism and Japanese design. Charlotte Perriand encountered Kidokoro's work during her time in Japan from 1940 onwards and subsequently pursued her own experiments with bamboo cantilever seating.

Japan, circa 1937.

Bibliography: Jacques Barsac, Charlotte Perriand, un art d'habiter, Éditions Norma, 2005, p. 244, model illustrated.

• Height 68 cm / 27"
• Width 53 cm / 21"
• Depth 70 cm / 27 ³⁄₄"