Yoshio Takagi’s pinwheel table caused a spin at the recent Melbourne Fringe Festival.
The second year Curtin furniture design student beat professional designers to take out the People’s Choice Award and Best Design Addressing the Exhibition Theme ‘Make Your Mark’.
Yoshio’s design ‘Molentje’, meaning pinwheel in Dutch, was inspired by origami.
‘I have always believed that functionality is the foundation of beauty – design completes its functionality,’ he said.
‘I did not expect to win at all but I put all of my effort into my piece and I did everything that I could to ensure it was high quality.
‘It took about three months to complete it entirely – as it was the first piece of furniture I have ever made, Curtin supported me in many ways.’
Yoshio said meeting other designers and being part of the renowned festival was the most rewarding part.
‘I was just more than happy that I could go to Melbourne a second time for an exhibition and that I could display my work,’ he said.
‘Spending time with the other designers was an amazing experience – I learnt so much.
‘I met lots of people who are interested in my work through the exhibition in Melbourne and an architect from Melbourne bought my first piece at the first exhibition called VIVID.’
After finishing his final year at Curtin in 2009 Yoshio plans to stay in Australia and get a job as an industrial designer before ultimately setting up his own company designing a unique range of furniture and industrial products.
To see photos, and the full list of Fringe Furniture winners, visit the Design Victoria website.
