True to form when NeoCon’s around… the event is giving me the chance to re-acquaint myself with some old favorites, if two years back can be characterized as “old.” On Tuesday, the Beam Table Lamp got me back in touch with designer Christian Vivanco, and today Jeff Miller’s Hida Collection refreshes my memory about manufacturer Itoki.

Hida Chair. Designed by Jeff Miller. Manufactured by Itoki Design.

Contract Comfort with Itoki’s Handsome Hida Collection

In early 2009, I touched on Japan-based Itoki’s foray into American soil with Itoki Design—a NY presence, headed by Miller, that produces furnishings in the Itoki brand yet specifically geared for the U.S. market. Count Hida as exhibit A for fulfilling that objective. The lounge/hospitality collection synthesizes old world craftsmanship with a contemporary new world flair.

Each of the three pieces comprising Hida (lounge chair, low table, and privacy screen) is a study in exacting design and mindful assembly. The three furnishings are all composed of flattish lengths of compressed Japanese cedar that are artfully assembled into a coherent whole.

The Hida Chair highlights the intriguing junction between straights and rounds—where forms join and a seamless structural integrity is achieved. The Hida Table partakes of this same architectural cohesion, creating “a sculptural continuity from modular units that are developed flat then spliced together.” And the Hida Screen employs subtle modulations in slat thickness and profile to create a privacy shield that’s also a captivating study in the play of light and shadow.

Hida (and Miller and Itoki) have already turned more than a few heads this year at NeoCon, as the Hida Chair just won the Best of NeoCon Editor’s Choice Award.

Via Otto-Otto.

About the Manufacturer: Itoki Design is the NYC incarnation of Japan’s Itoki, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of contract furnishings. Under the watchful aegis of designer Jeff Miller, Itoki launched the stateside-arm in 2009 in order to “blend Japanese expertise and American vision for the US market.” Some of the more auspicious results of this cross-cultural offering include the Spina Chair, the CC table, and the new Hida Collection, all of which exemplify “comfort and familiarity of natural paradigm forms, innovative use of quality materials, and multi-function appeal.”