In a world filled with plastic, designer Takumi Shimamura of Monacca differentiates his handmade calculators by using beautiful, sustainably harvested wood. We spotted the sleek computation devices on the floor of this week’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair and thought that their pleasing form + practical function = awesome design.
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To make Monacca‘s calculators and other wood products, skilled craftsmen use three-dimensional molds to shape the thinned cedar wood into soft round shapes. Each calculator becomes a unique item, since the wood grain texture varies in every one. Besides the beautiful form, these calculators are embedded with a cedar aroma that brings the forest right into your office.
Monacca uses traditional “yanase” cedar trees from the Umagi Village of Japan to create their contemporary designs. The brand creates present-day products using traditional materials and processes, as if plastic was never invented. The products have a natural warm touch to them, and due to the strong pressed laminated wood, they are both durable and lightweight.
Part of Monacca’s sales go to the maintenance of the forest through funds that work on keeping a dense forest and responsible production of wood.
+ Monacca
Photos © Inhabitat
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