So Koizumi binds metal, stone and resin with asphalt in the As furniture collection

Designer So Koizumi of SO KOIZUMI DESIGN presents As, a furniture collection that reconsiders asphalt not as infrastructure but as origin. The series departs from the material’s current association with road paving and instead returns to its primordial role as a binding agent. Historically, asphalt functioned as an adhesive capable of connecting disparate elements. In As, this latent capacity to mediate becomes the conceptual and structural core of the work.

Rather than treating asphalt as a surface or coating, Koizumi approaches it as a connective force. The collection reframes the material through a contemporary lens, positioning it between metal, stone and resin. Asphalt is not concealed within the construction. It is made visible as the very element that allows difference to coexist.

In Japan, asphalt was used as early as the Jomon period to fasten wooden shafts to stone arrowheads for hunting. Koizumi draws from this precedent, interpreting asphalt as a mediator that enables distinct materials to act as one. The As collection extends this ancient logic into the realm of contemporary design.

Stools, side tables and lighting pieces emerge from this act of union. Stone meets metal. Resin meets mineral. Each component retains its own identity, yet the composition is made possible by the presence of asphalt. The result is not a seamless fusion but a deliberate articulation of connection. Joints are emphasized rather than hidden, revealing the moment of encounter between elements.

For Koizumi, the making of As begins before form. Some materials, including asphalt, are shaped and refined directly by the designer’s hands. The act of producing and manipulating the material itself becomes integral to the design process. Structure and texture are developed through cycles of experimentation, where failure and adjustment inform the final outcome.

This iterative approach transforms asphalt from an industrial commodity into a crafted medium. Through repeated testing, heating and reforming, the designer investigates the inherent energies of each component. The work is less about imposing form and more about discovering relationships that arise when materials are brought into tension.

In As, furniture becomes a site of material dialogue. The collection does not seek uniformity. Instead, it foregrounds contrast and cohesion, density and fragility, opacity and sheen. Asphalt operates as a threshold between these states, holding them in dynamic balance.

By revisiting the origins of asphalt and reinterpreting its connective function, So Koizumi proposes a new reading of material intelligence. The As collection suggests that contemporary furniture can act as a record of encounter, where disparate substances meet, negotiate and ultimately cohere.

Project Credit

Title: As
Use: Chair, Stool, Side Table, Lighting, Wall-mounted Object
Design: So Koizumi (SO KOIZUMI DESIGN) / @so_koizumi_design
Completion: 11.2025
Photo Credit: SO KOIZUMI DESIGN, MATOYA / @mato_ya