Yoshio Takagi’s pinwheel table caused a spin at the recent Melbourne Fringe Festival.<\/p>\n
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’.<\/p>\n
Yoshio’s design ‘Molentje’, meaning pinwheel in Dutch, was inspired by origami.<\/p>\n
‘I have always believed that functionality is the foundation of beauty – design completes its functionality,’ he said.<\/p>\n
‘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.
\n‘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.’
\nYoshio said meeting other designers and being part of the renowned festival was the most rewarding part.<\/p>\n
‘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.<\/p>\n
‘Spending time with the other designers was an amazing experience – I learnt so much.<\/p>\n
‘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.’<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n