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MINIATUREMØBLER
Miniaturemøbler har fascineret samlere i årevis, og flere større møbelproducenter som Vitra og Fritz Hansen producerer i dag møbler i denne genre. I Japan bor Wegner-entusiast og møbeldesigner Hirotsugu Tanaka, der skaber miniaturemøbler af udvalgte Wegnerstole. Hans møde med Y-stolen i en alder af 25 år startede interessen for Hans J. Wegner. I dag, mere end 40 år senere, designer og bygger han miniaturemodeller af flere ikoniske designmøbler i sin virksomhed. Tanakas kollektion på 40 miniaturemodeller bygger bro mellem hans erfaring som møbeldesigner og hans præcise håndværk og sublime detaljeniveau – kombineret med hans dybe fascination af Wegners håndelag og tankesæt.
De udstillede miniaturestole på Museum Wegner er en gave fra Hiro Tanaka.
I dette interview fortæller Tanaka om sin fascination af miniaturemøbler og Hans J. Wegner.
How did you become interested in Wegner?
I first encountered the Wishbone Chair at a furniture store where I was choosing pieces for my own wedding.
The moment I saw it, I was struck by its unforgettable beauty. Touching the soap-finished wood thrilled me with its quiet warmth, lifting it surprised me with its lightness, and sitting in it moved me with its comfort. From that moment on, the Wishbone Chair became one of my favourite pieces, and it sparked my interest in Mr. Hans J. Wegner as well.
What is it about miniature furniture that fascinates you?
The appeal of creating miniature furniture…
When I begin making a miniature, I always start with drawings. It is rare for me to take measurements from an actual chair, so I usually infer dimensions from photographs.
When I cannot understand a detail, I ask myself what Wegner might have intended: Was it for beauty, for ease of production, for strength? What kind of ingenuity did he apply to achieve it? Thinking in this way feels as though I am tracing the path he followed when designing the chair. Those moments are deeply fulfilling.
Miniature furniture tends to be relatively expensive due to the high level of craftsmanship involved. Which craft skills are most important?
Because I work in a 1:10 scale, I cannot reproduce every joint exactly as in the original. I must devise methods appropriate for the smaller size. This continuous inventiveness—this need to figure out how to build at that scale—is, I believe, the most essential part of the craft. And that very process is what makes miniature making so enjoyable.
Why do you believe the public loves miniature furniture?
The charm of real furniture does not diminish when it becomes a miniature. In fact, shrinking the size concentrates its appeal. Even when a piece is reduced from ten to one, its "ten-ness" of character remains unchanged. I believe this is why many people can feel the same greatness and presence in a palm-sized miniature as in the original.
Is Wegner a well-known designer in Japan?
He is well known. In Japan, anyone who likes furniture is usually familiar with his work, and even people with little interest in furniture still recognise the Wishbone Chair.
When I learned about Wegner’s design approach from books —where the designer personally create drawings, scale models, carefully studies details, and even moves on to full-scale drawings and prototypes—I felt that this was exactly what I had always wanted to do. I would describe myself as “a miniature furniture maker who truly loves Wegner.
How many models are in your collection of miniature furniture from Wegner? Do you plan to add more?
I have created around forty different miniature chairs so far, though I currently keep about fifteen. I plan to continue challenging myself with new designs. I began gaining hands-on woodworking experience and studying Danish furniture design after I decided to make wooden miniatures.