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201 - Satoshi Itasaka Balloon Table ABS, steel, glass Date created…
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Estimate €3,000 - €3,900
Sale commission
Description
Satoshi Itasaka Balloon Table ABS, steel, glass Date created: 2023 H37 W90 D90 cm Satoshi Itasaka is a product and furniture designer working under the name studio H220430, an acronym for Heisei 22 (2010), 30 April, the official launch date of his new venture. He began his career in the more formal field of architecture, working at Kidosaki Architects. His most iconic work, the Balloon Bench—a whimsical, fairy-tale piece that captures the hearts of fans of the film *The Red Balloon*—perfectly illustrates the deliberate refusal of his work to conform to obvious criteria of functionality or marketability. In a society built on production, mass consumption and the rapid disposal of objects, there is something admirable in Itasaka’s ability to incorporate a concept into product design. Through each creation, he seeks to imbue a message, what he calls ‘secondary communication’: a meaning that is not immediately apparent, but which was decisive in the design process. His works feature in New York galleries, international art events and the collections of design museums. The Balloon Table is the natural evolution of the Balloon series that made Itasaka’s name. Inspired by the final scene of the French film *Le Ballon Rouge*, in which a young boy clings to a cluster of balloons and soars above Paris, the piece aims to bring a smile to anyone who approaches it, just as the film did for the designer himself. Whereas the Balloon Bench suspended its seat using concealed anchors, the Balloon Table applies the same principle in a horizontal form: the glass top appears to be held aloft by a cluster of ABS-moulded balloons, resting on a slender steel frame. The magic of the illusion lies in the inversion of reality: what should fly away provides support; what should weigh down floats. A unique piece straddling the boundary between furniture and sculpture.
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About the sale Sculptural furniture and functional art
Auction location
Auction time 06/25/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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