DESIGN NAME: Moi Sauna Limited Edition
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Glass
INSPIRATION: The glass was created with the hope that people will enjoy the sauna more and have a special relaxing time by using it during sauna time, incorporating the spirituality of sauna in Finland, the birthplace of the sauna culture.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Löyly is an essential part of Finnish saunas, where water is poured over hot stones to generate steam to heat the room. Like its Löyly counterpart, it uses a special technique, which harnesses the power of steam to create invisible natural forms of steam. Furthermore, grey coloured glass is used for the bottom so that the unique smoky atmosphere of SAVU SAUNA, which is said to be the origin of saunas, can be felt, and each glass is handcrafted by Japanese glass artisans with thought and care. Moreover, it has a simple, natural 'MOI SAUNA' logo engraved on it, designed by a Finnish designer.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: The naturally shaped glass, which is inflated using the force of steam, fits in the human hand. The glass is of a good size to share drinks with several people, making it more satisfying while enjoying conversation in the open air or relaxing after a sauna.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in April 2022 in Finland and finished in November 2022. In November of the same year, It was exhibited at the Japanese 'Colours' exhibition / Japanin väri 2022, supported by the Embassy of Japan in Finland.
|
PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: When glass is made by hand, in standard glass blowing, the glass is inflated by blowing into a blowpipe. In contrast, pinblowing is a technique in which a thin stick wrapped in wet newspaper is pressed against hot glass to generate water vapour, which then expands the glass using the force of the vapour. A special technique called pinblowing is used to reduce manual processing to a maximum extent and visualise the invisible löyly (steam), which is essential for Finnish saunas.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Glassblowing / Diameter 90mm x Height 85 mm
TAGS: Glass, Glassblowing, Glasswork, Beverage, Sauna, Saunaglass, Moi, Moisauna, Japan, Finland
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: SAUNA is Finland's own sweat bath, and sauna culture was inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020. In the past, saunas were sacred places for Finns to give birth and remember the deceased. Today, it is a place where people can wash away the hustle and bustle of everyday life, enjoy conversation and relax their body and spirit. And in recent years, the widespread awareness of the attractiveness of saunas for relaxation and enjoyment has led to a boom in Japan, with the use of saunas by young people and women in particular increasing.
CHALLENGE: In the production of glass using pinblows, the colouring is usually done by rolling coloured glass powder onto a heated glass ball. In such cases, only the surface of the glass is coloured, and when the glass is processed, the colour is scraped off and lost, making it impossible to achieve natural colouration. In order to solve this disadvantage, the project uses coloured glass itself as a glass ball and rolls transparent glass around it. In this way, the natural smoky colouring is achieved without any loss of colour when the bottom is ground flat and the logo is engraved.
ADDED DATE: 2022-10-27 13:30:13
TEAM MEMBERS (1) :
IMAGE CREDITS: Image: Nagisa Nishijima / Video Credits: Yasuyuki Kitamura
PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: copyrights: Yasuyuki Kitamura, 2022.
|