Chair Model C-022
Manufactured by Uchida Design Studio
Japan, 1980
Brass, Steel, Upholstered seat

Measurements
52 x 50 x 67h cm
20,5 x 19,7 x 26,4h in

Provenance
Private collection, Japan

Literature
Shigeru Uchida, et. al., Interior Design: Uchida, Mitsuhashi, Nishioka & Studio 80 Vol. II, Cologne, 1996

About
The Chair Model C-022 is a striking embodiment of Shigeru Uchida’s poetic approach to postmodern Japanese design. Produced in the 1980s, this piece reflects Uchida's pursuit of harmony between structure and emptiness, combining architectural rigor with a subtle lyricism. The chair’s defining features—a semi-circular brass armrest, slender black steel frame, and sculptural curled feet—evoke a quiet tension between strength and delicacy.
Uchida, known for his interiors, objects, and urban design, often designed furniture that blurred the boundaries between utility and symbolism. The C-022 chair echoes this sensibility, standing not only as a functional object but also as a distilled gesture of form. Its geometric simplicity and refined material contrasts nod to the aesthetic vocabulary of his contemporaries, such as Shiro Kuramata and Rei Kawakubo, while retaining a unique and contemplative identity.
Rare and emblematic, the C-022 is both a collectible design artifact and a meditation on balance, emptiness, and line—fundamental elements in Uchida’s lifelong exploration of Japanese space and culture.

Biography
Shigeru Uchida (1943–2016) was a defining figure of post-war Japanese design, whose prolific output shaped a distinctly modern yet deeply reflective aesthetic. Born in Yokohama and educated at the Kuwasawa Design School, Uchida went on to direct the institution and establish Studio 80 in 1981, marking the beginning of a multifaceted career spanning interior architecture, furniture, industrial design, and urban planning.
A key concern in Uchida’s work was the dialogue between Japanese spatial philosophy and contemporary global design. His furniture, in particular, embodies a search for “transparency and lightness that transcends physicality,” reflecting his belief that form should almost disappear in order to let space breathe. His iconic September chair (1977) exemplifies this vision through its delicate geometry, steel structure, and open mesh seat—an exploration of presence through absence.
Uchida stood at the intersection of design and cultural discourse. In Japan, he was closely aligned with creatives like Shiro Kuramata and Yohji Yamamoto, while internationally, he shared affinities with figures such as Ettore Sottsass, Aldo Rossi, and Gaetano Pesce. Through these relationships, he became an influential voice in the postmodern movement, shaping an approach that valued restraint, ambiguity, and material poetry.
Beyond his acclaimed interiors for Yohji Yamamoto boutiques and institutions like the Kobe Fashion Museum, Uchida also delved into philosophical investigations through the design of contemporary tea houses and experimental architecture. His work is represented in major collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and SFMOMA.
A noted design theorist as well as practitioner, Uchida wrote extensively on Japanese aesthetics, the body’s relationship to space, and the poetics of the everyday. His legacy endures in both his objects and his thought—quiet, rigorous, and deeply attuned to the subtleties of form and life.