A Chair Shaped by Switzerland and Japan
Editor Sunjin Kim | Photographer Alicia Dubois
Since its founding in 2004, Big-Game has collaborated with a wide range of global design brands, including Alessi, Hay, Muji, and Nespresso. Led by three friends from different cultural backgrounds, Augustin Scott de Martinville, Grégoire Jeanmonod, and Eric Petit, the studio creates designs that are simple and functional yet visually delightful. Karimoku Furniture launched KNS in 2009 to focus on sustainable wooden furniture. Through KNS, the trio organically combines contrasting elements such as craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology, or Swiss design and Japanese manufacturing. In doing so, they are realizing the brand’s vision of ‘global furniture made from local wood.’
This interview is featured in Issue 5 ‘K Chair’.
What was your first impression of KNS and Karimoku Furniture?
It was interesting in many ways. The brand is well known around the world today, of course, but back then it was a very typical Japanese brand. Yet whenever we talked to people in Japan, everyone knew Karimoku Furniture. Even in small rural towns, everyone knew the name. That stayed with us for a long time. We were also surprised by how deeply they respect design as a discipline. Before we started working together, we received a very detailed briefing on the project. As we continued working with them year after year, we came to realize more and more just how good they are. Traditional Japanese woodworking is famously sophisticated, but with KNS we experienced its cutting-edge version.
Could you tell us more?
KNS was quite open about what products we designed, but very specific about the wood. Most manufacturers say, “We want this kind of chair. You choose the material.” KNS, on the other hand, said, “Here’s the material we have. Please make something with it.” They had robots, 3D software, and advanced manufacturing technology that could efficiently combine small-diameter timber, which had rarely been used for furniture because the logs are so thin. We liked that they made high-quality products in a sustainable way. Many companies promote sustainability but compromise on quality, and most aren’t interested in sustainability at all. KNS, however, was in the “sweet spot” that offered both.
The Castor series, created in collaboration with KNS, brings together KNS’s identity and Big-Game’s simple design in harmony. What did you consider most important in this series?
Our top priority was to make furniture that was comfortable, compact, and lightweight. We also thought about details that add convenience. The stools and chairs are stackable, and the tables can be taken apart for shipping and placed side by side. Our goal was to keep the overall design simple and consistent while achieving a high level of finish with KNS. Because the Castor series is thin and light overall, making the individual wooden parts stable was especially difficult. Our designs often look simple but are actually hard to make, and they fully understood that challenge and pulled it off. They never imposed anything on the design. Whenever we send technical drawings or 3D files, they always do their best to reproduce them as faithfully as possible. When they made the first prototype, for example, they told us, “There’s a deviation of about 1 mm. We’re sorry.” It was barely visible to the eye. (Laughs)
We heard you also referenced traditional Swiss and Japanese furniture forms when designing the Castor series. Why did you want to apply these cultural references, and how did you incorporate them?
With the Castor chair, you could say that details we noticed around us were naturally woven in. We wanted it to feel like the old Swiss café chairs that stay comfortable even after you’ve been sitting for a long time, so we took the backrest angle and dimensions directly from them. Japanese culture offered a great deal of inspiration. For one, Japan places a strong emphasis on functionality in design. Things have to work well and be practical. So we wanted a chair that was truly comfortable to sit on and didn’t take up much space. Space is tight in many public places and homes, so we didn’t want to make bulky furniture. We designed it to be stackable and to look good when stacked. KNS didn’t actually ask for that feature. We first made a stackable stool and then thought we could apply the idea to the chair as well. From there, it grew naturally. We started with the stool, added the chair the next year and the table the year after, then the low chair and the sofa. That’s how we developed the design language of the Castor series.
The fact that you have kept developing a single series for more than a decade clearly reflects Karimoku Furniture’s motto: “Furniture should live as long as the tree it came from.” What has it been like to develop one series over such a long period?
The Castor series has grown very slowly, like an oak tree. Adding one new product each year with KNS allowed us to think through and design each piece with real care. As a result, the whole series fits together like a family, while each piece has its own story. Think of the bar stool, whose backrest doubles as a handle, the low chair with its precisely painted armrests, or the kids’ chair, which was re-proportioned rather than simply scaled down from the adult version. Since it’s a series we’ve crafted with care over many years, we hope that dedication is reflected in the products’ lifespan, too. When you design many products at once, the quality of each can be uneven. Because we invested enough time and care in the Castor series, the pieces share a consistent level of quality that remains satisfying over years of use. A few years ago, Kenmei Nagaoka looked at the Castor chair and called it “long-life design.” That was the best compliment we’ve ever received!
KNS brings together somewhat contrasting elements in harmony, such as craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology, or Japanese technical expertise and Swiss design. How do you think these qualities connect with Big-Game’s design philosophy of being ‘simple, functional, and optimistic’?
When we first visited Karimoku Furniture’s factory, we were deeply impressed by how remarkably organized and clean everything was. What struck us most was seeing industrial robots and craftspeople working side by side in the same space. Letting robots do what machines do better, and letting people do what requires the human hand, is ultimately a smart way to get the best of both. Big-Game also places great value on this kind of balance. We believe it’s important to use advanced technology without forgetting cultural heritage and the spirit of craft. That’s also the context for our use of the word “optimistic.” It describes an attitude of building a positive future through a balance of technology and tradition.
Big-Game has worked with companies and design brands around the world, from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to France and Italy. What are your criteria for choosing partners, and was there anything that made Karimoku Furniture stand out?
We enjoy working with companies that have deep expertise in their own fields, from Opinel, the French family-run knife maker, to Rado, the Swiss multinational watch brand. At the heart of it, there’s always ‘a deep love for objects.’ We value long-term relationships, and in that respect we were a great fit with Karimoku Furniture. On top of that, thanks to their excellent art direction, we’re always confident our products will be presented beautifully. When it comes to communication, we value humility. We take everything seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We believe that attitude is what makes for good collaboration.
Want to dive deeper?
Issue.05 K Chair
Introduced by Karimoku Furniture in 1962, the K Chair is a 'long-life design' product—simple, sturdy, and true to the essentials. A symbolic chair that established Karimoku's quality standards and philosophy of craftsmanship, care, and sincerity, it became widely known in 2002 when designer Kenmei Nagaoka rebranded it as the K Chair of Karimoku 60. Easy to repair thanks to its detachable, reassemblable structure, and possessed of a charm that does not fade with time, the K Chair invites us to rediscover the beauty and value of ordinary, everyday objects.
