SHOTA SHIMODE_CONTEXTS

A designer who explores tools for contemporary life, starting with the time and context embedded in materials. After completing graduate studies at Tokyo Zokei University, he worked at a Swedish design firm on projects ranging from home appliances to public-sector work. Moving between industry and handcraft, he interprets the histories and ideas behind materials and techniques, reconstructing them as forms rooted in everyday life.
This exhibition presents three works—Coexist, Retrace and Anomaly—from the CONTEXTS series shown at Milan Design Week 2026 in the 5VIE Design District. Coexist is tableware that brings different solid woods together in three dimensions through traditional joints, exploring vessels that change over time. Retrace draws on the logic of weathered stone and the experience of tracing growth rings, using a stool's contact with the body to let the senses perceive layers of time. Anomaly, developed with E-Stonetech, is a light made by remelting discarded liquor bottles into 100% recycled glass, then using stoneworking techniques to carve traces of heat and gravity into a vessel for light. Together, the works explore how time embedded in materials can be reinterpreted within everyday contexts.