Ishinomaki Laboratory

District

Nordhavn

Århusgade 128, 2150 Copenhagen

Website

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Ishinomaki Laboratory is a furniture brand founded in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. It began as a local initiative supporting recovery through DIY projects, restoring community spaces and collaborative efforts to reimagine the city. Early work included building outdoor benches with local high school students and workshops through Herman Miller’s disaster–relief program. In 2014, it became a company, expanding through collaborations with Japanese and international designers and distributing products globally. In 2024, it partnered with Karimoku Furniture to develop two series: Maker Pack and The Originals, made in Ishinomaki. Today, it serves as a hub for the global “Made in Local” network.

This exhibition brings together 15 iconic pieces of furniture that have shaped the history and evolution of Ishinomaki Laboratory. They are traces of thoughts and experiments layered over time, quietly reflecting the values of Ishinomaki Laboratory. This exhibition is not simply a place to display products. Through furniture, it offers an opportunity to experience the way of making that has spread from Ishinomaki over the past fifteen years, along with the relationships between people and the thoughts directed toward local communities. Fifteen years on, with Ishinomaki as its point of origin and alongside people in many places, Ishinomaki Laboratory continues its practice of making.