Tokujin Yoshioka’s ephemeral ice furniture is made to melt in Milan

A series of chairs made from frozen blocks of ice – designed to ‘express light’ and constantly transform upon exposure to the elements – takes centre stage in a new Milan Design Week 2025 exhibition by Japanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka.

The seven ‘Aqua Chairs’, made from pure water using a special slow-freezing technique, sit on blocks in the courtyard of 14th-century Palazzo Landriani, with serene temple-like sweeps of small white stones on the ground.

‘I honestly don’t know what will happen or how long they will last’: Tokujin Yoshioka on his new ice designs

Pure and sharp, transparent and brilliantly light-emitting, each chair sculpture weighs 850kg and took around a month to freeze into super clear ice designed to maximise the refraction and transmission of light. Throughout Milan Design Week, they will transform, slowly and unpredictably, eventually disappearing upon exposure to wind, sun and rain.

The chairs are spotlighted in the exhibition ‘Frozen’, created in collaboration with Grand Seiko, the Japanese watchmaker known for its craftsmanship and nature-inspired design philosophies, which is also showcasing its new spring drive technology.

The chairs reflect the latest chapter in Yoshioka’s ongoing journey into harnessing the energy of nature and transcending form to express the elemental, near-sacred purity of light. His finely honed mastery of exploring light-emitting transparency can be seen in earlier creations, ranging from the minimalist depth of his optical glass benches to the organic structural beauty of his studies in crystals – and, memorably, his flaming glass cauldron in Tokyo in 2023.

For ‘Frozen’, the starting point was water, as Yoshioka tells Wallpaper*, while unwrapping the still pristinely frozen chairs in the courtyard, just ahead of the opening: ‘For some time, I have wanted to create a chair with water. Water is very mysterious and pure. It changes form easily from solid to liquid to gas and it’s very familiar – but also mystical. So I decided to challenge myself to make a chair out of water.’

A key feature is the impermanence of the chairs, and their continual, gradual disappearance throughout the exhibition, echoing the rhythms of nature. ‘The chairs will continue to change with time and I honestly don’t know what will happen or how long they will last over the coming week, it will depend on the wind and sun,’ says Yoshioka. ‘It's like making something together with nature, a natural phenomenon.’

The idea of expressing light is reflected not only in the transparency of the material but also in the nuanced curves and lines of its composition of four connected components. ‘In order to let light emanate, I designed curved corners to create a lens effect, so it refracts light and projects radiance,’ he explains. ‘Transparency is the closest thing to light. Using a transparent material gives material form to light itself.’

Whatever the weather in Milan this week, be it rain, wind or sunshine, Yoshioka is unphased by the invariable disappearance of his sculptures – as the light he is seeking to express is ultimately undiminishable. ‘By using light as a material, I want to make works that transcend the concept of form. What is most valuable is something that goes beyond materiality – this is essential for the future.’

‘Frozen’ is on view at Palazzo Landriani until 13 April 2025

Check out more of our Milan Design Week 2025 must-sees