LIFE BY LEXUS 16
“LOOKING AT THE KIRIKO GLASS FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES YIELDS DIFFERENT AESTHETICS, YET
IT CONVEYS AN OVERALL SENSE OF HARMONY AND CONNECTEDNESS.”
E
ver held a traditional, hand- cut Kiriko sake glass up and watched as the light dances through the design? Beauty truly is in the eyes of the
beholder – as this artistry reveals. Light reflects in different directions off the cut glass lines as your viewing angle shifts – a design found in glasses, vases and even ornaments. But one place you wouldn’t expect to find this object of beauty is within the interior of a car. Until now. Described as one of the most
technologically advanced cars Lexus has produced, the Lexus LS has taken this a step further, blending engineering with art. The ancient Japanese concept of Takumi is essential to all Lexus does. The Takumi master craftsmen are guardians of this artisanal philosophy, applying the human touch to every aspect of design and development. It’s this tradition and hand-crafted quality that distinguish the everyday from the special. Lexus Chief Designer Koichi Suga had a vision of drawing on the ancient Japanese art forms of Kiriko glass-cutting, origami pleating and intricate woodworking in the interior design of this luxury vehicle. “As a Japanese luxury brand, we wanted to integrate elements of Japanese culture and the timeless appeal of Japanese craftsmanship to express the artistic side of Lexus,” he says. The story starts in early 2014 when
Lexus, along with the Asahi Glass Company (AGC), began exploring how to use glass in the interior design. Kiriko is the tradition of hand-cutting delicate patterns into glass. Depending on the angle and the light, this produces stunning reflections. Kiriko is often found in vases, sake glasses and traditional glass ornaments. Koichi and his team wanted to recreate a similar effect, a sculptured piece of glass within the interior door design. As the producer of a range of glass products, including smartphone screens, windscreens and windows, AGC was the ideal partner – but this element
was, as AGC’s Hideki Ishioka explains, “completely outside of our traditional scope”. It would require a master artisan to create the elegant glass prototype. Enter Kiriko glass Takumi craftsman Toshiyasu Nakamura, who hails from Toyama City, home of the well-known Glass Art Museum. However, even to an artisanal master like him, recreating the reflective effect in glass panels proved challenging. Unlike the moveable nature of most Kiriko glass objects, a door panel is relatively fixed. The concern was that the standard cutting pattern might not produce the desired effect. Toshiyasu found the solution: “Cutting
at varying angles through the hand-drawn lines on the glass results in a ‘twist’, allowing more light to reflect at different angles along those lines.” But glass is delicate, and Kiriko more
so. Creating panels which are as durable as they’re elegant required an eight-stage process to be carried out in eight different locations across Japan. The process involved the incorporation of a 3D digital scan when designing the mould in order to accurately reproduce the glass panel’s unusual dimensions. Carefully vetted partner vendors completed the finishing, polishing and strengthening stages. The unique shape also meant that transporting batches between vendors needed customised packaging and delivery processes to protect the quality and beauty of the glass panels. The panels are a stark contrast to the
stitched leather, hand-pleated surfacing and cool metal release handle. The reflection of the light changing the appearance, depending on the time of day, is a work of art that constantly evolves. “To me, Japanese beauty represents
a subtlety and depth that reveal more detail and craft the longer one observes it,” says Toshiyasu. “Looking at the Kiriko glass from different angles yields different aesthetics, yet it conveys an overall sense of harmony and connectedness.”
1. Kiriko glass T
akumi craftsman Toshiyasu Nakamura of Toyama City, home of the well-known Glass Art Museum, was tasked with recreating the
Kiriko’s reflective effect in the glass panels. 2. Featuring the exquisite detailing customers have come to expect, the Lexus LS 500 uses hand-cut glass, inspired by fine Japanese Kiriko creations, to create distinctive and refined ornamentation.
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