🎨Nizo Yamamoto - Art director behind Ghibli movies 🏘Tokyo Real Estate Media Inspires New Challenges, 🇫🇷French designer Ferréol Babin combines industrial with nature, 🌊Minagi - Boat House in Kyoto
Ordermade #5
第5号
Welcome to the fifth edition of Ordermade (オーダーメイド).
Ordermade curates all things tasteful, including art, fashion, interiors, architecture, music, and literature, with Japanese sensibilities a few times a month. Did someone forward this to you? Subscribe below.
This edition features the art director of Ghibli movies, real estate media in Tokyo that tries to inspire new challenges, French objects maker Ferréol Babin, and a boat house in Ine, Kyoto.
Song of the week. Hit play and enjoy. (Age-restricted because “[t]he song and story depicts a man who is fascinated by a personification of death, Thanatos, who sent him a message ‘goodbye’ and he tries to stop his girlfriend from suicide by jumping.”
Yamamoto Nizou passed away on August 19th, in the 5th year of the Reiwa era (2023), due to stomach cancer. He was 70 years old. Until a few days before his death, he continued to draw the manga of the folklore "Kanjiga Shiro" from his hometown Gotō Islands, and completed about 120 pages of drafts, leaving just one page unfinished.
To everyone who has supported him during his lifetime and to all his fans, we sincerely thank you for your continued support. Nizou Yamamoto's essence will likely continue to reside in the skies of Laputa, the air-raid shelters of Grave of the Fireflies, the forests of Princess Mononoke, the streetscapes of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and the seas of Goto's scenic views.
The term "Nizou Cloud", which can be said to be synonymous with Yamamoto Nizou, refers to the majestic cumulonimbus clouds of summer. He often said, "I am a summer guy (laughs)." He was a person who loved alcohol and cigarettes. Even today, his drafts and reference materials are scattered on the desk in his studio. Looking at the empty chair, it feels as if Nizou is still sitting there.
(From his official Twitter)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
He also worked on the ceiling painting of the Weather Shrine that appeared in Weathering with You by Makoto Shinkai (2019)
As our company name suggests, with the spirit of "Hello, Tokyo!", we want to support those who take on challenges in Tokyo! We want to create a place where friends who can say "Hello" to each other can gather!
Below is one of my favorites on their page.
Even though it's a low-rise condominium, it feels more like you're immersed in the sky, merging with nature! Even when you're feeling down, the space is so refreshing that it makes you forget why you were ever down in the first place.
Ferréol Babin was born in March 1987 in Dijon, France.
After first graduating in Space Design in ENSA of Dijon, he moved to Japan, to the Nagoya University of Art & Design. By this time, he realised that architecture and space were not the right scale for him to fully express himself, and decided to focus on objects. He then worked as an intern at Studio Robert Stadler in Paris. In 2012 he graduated from ESAD of Reims, in Object Design. Soon, light appeared to be his favourite material to work with, thanks to its ability to be linked to both an object and the space surrounding it.
In 2014 he [was] selected for a one-year residency to work at Fabrica, the Benetton's communications research centre, based in Treviso, Italy. Under the direction of Sam Baron, his projects included industrial design, scenography or conceptual installations.
Ferréol Babin dedicates half of his time collaborating with various furniture and lighting editors where he can incorporate his singular vision and approach of design. The other half is spent on making unique pieces, with an obvious brutalist yet delicate approach.
Dirty-hands, mix of mediums such as painting, sculpture, design and handcraft play their role in each of his creation.
His projects are always based on an awareness of function and rationality, combined with a poetic and emotional dimension. (from his website)
FOREST bench that combines French oak with velvet fabric by Ferréol
Since my young age, I draw, paint and build things. I also always loved to dismount objects that I own, to understand how they work, how they are built, or why they don’t work anymore. Unfortunately, with high-tech products, this is not possible anymore, and I think that when you can’t analyse and understand an object, you can’t feel close to it.
Q · Where do you get inspiration?
It comes from everything that sorrounds me, directly or not. It comes from the observation of natural elements, but also from what others built before me. I always look for the rightest balance between the poetic aspect of an object, and its functionality, rationality and reproducibility.
Q · Can you describe your style, how has that style developed over the years?
As said before, I always look for the best way to combine an industrially-conceived object, with a sensitive and delicate approach. But sometimes, projects cannot fit industry’s confines, that why I also produce object by myself, in small series, like the Ecume series. (inteview)
He prefers to work alone. He found it frustrating that assisting other designers and supporting their ideas vs. his own was the most common path for designers. He did complete a year-long residency at Fabrica (Design fellowship program) with Sam Baron, but he “want[s] to master each step, from the model to the prototype to the photo shoot: I do everything myself from A to Z, even my website, I don’t delegate anything to anyone.”
8:00 | Minagi, boat house in Ine, Kyoto
Ine, Kyoto is famous for its boathouses along the bay. This boathouse has the sea right in front of it, allowing you to step out of the living room and enjoy the panoramic view of the sea.
There are 20 oceanfront boathouses available for lodging, including Minagi, which was constructed by Ine Town in Kyoto Prefecture. It is furnished with high-quality items and can accommodate up to 6 people for quality bonding time.
That’s it for this week.