YALI GLASS returns to London Craft Week for 2025 with EBB & FLOW, an exhibition of sculptural handcrafted tables designed in collaboration with Kitaworks and Arts & Science, Japan.
The KATI tables are a collaborative design between Venice’s YALI GLASS and Okayama-based furniture design studio KITAWORKS. This east-meets-west partnership was initiated by Sonya Park, the visionary founder of Arts & Science, Japan, with whom YALI has worked for over a decade, sharing a passion for fine craftsmanship and a strong appreciation for understated, balanced design principles.
The KATI table was created in two stages. Firstly, the glass top was designed in Venice by YALI’s founder Marie-Rose Kahane; its sinuous, organic form inspired by the irregular islets found within the Venetian lagoon. The hand-molded cast glass slab was then shipped to KITAWORKS in Japan where founder Takashi Kita began work on the curvaceous metallic structures which would form the table’s base. Despite the fact that the two designers did not speak the same language, an immediate affinity and shared sensibility ensued which is evident in the finished piece. The two materials come together in a harmonious interplay of movement and flow. Both the glass and metal embody a natural and luminous fluidity, emulating the undulating aqueous forms from which they were inspired.
“Glass has very much a mind of its own - an energy and flow - which the maestro plays with while forming it… Nature is always at the back of my mind.” – Marie-Rose Kahane
“The manufacturing process at KITAWORKS is focused on minimalist design. Inspired by the organic forms created by YALI Glass, we made a table base that is both soft and sharp.” - Takashi Kita.
KITAWORKS
The history of Kitaworks dates back to 1978 with the founding of Kita Welding Industry, a community-based factory in the town of Tsuyama-shi in Okayama prefecture. The company was renamed Kitaworks in 2009 and continues its more than forty-year tradition of producing custom-made furniture using welding techniques. The pieces are made with a range of metals, including iron, stainless steel, copper, and brass, and are specially designed to function seamlessly with existing furniture and in the spaces where they will be enjoyed. Kitaworks also designs and manufactures furniture for retail spaces.
EBB & FLOW
LONDON CRAFT WEEK
14 - 17 May 2025
10am - 6pm
No. 9 Cork Street
9 Cork Street
London, W1S 3LL