Won the 'Red Dot Design Award 2026' in the Product Design Category
Karimoku Furniture and Itoki announced that their jointly developed wooden folding chair 'CROSSA WOOD' has won the Red Dot Design Award 2026. The chair features domestic chestnut wood, combining advanced woodworking technology with highly functional design.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 23, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 24, 2026 at 00:31 (12h 59m after Collected)
Karimoku Furniture Inc. (Headquarters: Higashiura-cho, Chita-gun, Aichi Prefecture, President: Hiroshi Kato, hereinafter "the Company") is pleased to announce that the wooden folding chair "CROSSA WOOD", jointly developed with Itoki Corporation, has won the internationally recognized "Red Dot Design Award 2026".
The Red Dot Design Award is an internationally prestigious design competition organized by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany since 1955. It consists of three disciplines: Product Design, Brands & Communication Design, and Design Concept. Entries are evaluated based on nine criteria, including degree of innovation, functionality, ergonomics, ecology, and durability.
This product, recognized in the Product Design category, is a folding chair that utilizes domestic chestnut, a broadleaf wood that has rarely been used for furniture, finding new possibilities for the material. By combining the Company's production technology with Itoki's workspace design capabilities, it achieves both strength and exceptional design. The inherent lightness of chestnut wood has been sublimated into the advantage of mobility. This product indicates a new direction for the utilization of domestic timber.
- About the Award-Winning Product
"CROSSA WOOD" is a wooden chair for workspaces that allows for folding, self-standing, and nesting storage while maintaining a beautiful silhouette similar to a dining chair.
- Effective Utilization of Domestic Timber through the Fusion of Technology and Design
The back and seat of "CROSSA WOOD" are made of domestic chestnut wood, a broadleaf tree with low specific gravity and a strong grain. Until now, chestnut has not been commonly used as a material for furniture such as chairs, which require strength. In this product, utilizing the material lamination technology cultivated by the Company, diverse domestic chestnut wood—ranging from thick to thin diameters and even curved pieces—is processed into uniform narrow widths. By combining them in a laminated structure, a delicate and beautiful design has been realized.
Furthermore, the hybrid structure with steel legs complements the strength, converting the characteristic lightness of chestnut wood into the unique convenience of folding chairs, such as ease of movement and setup. The bright and smooth finish achieved by our woodworking technology gives warmth and a rich texture to its universal form.
- Award Details
Product Name: CROSSA WOOD
Application: Wooden folding chair for workspaces
Designers: Yasuhiro Nakamura (Bau Design Co., Ltd.)
Yuki Takeya (Itoki Corporation)
Product Page (Itoki):
https://www.itoki.jp/special/econifa/product/crossa_wood/index.html
Red Dot Design Award 2026
An internationally prestigious design award held since 1955 by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany. Comprising Product Design, Communication Design, and Design Concept, it targets designs commercialized within the past two years, judged on nine criteria including innovation, functionality, ergonomics, ecology, and durability.
Red Dot Design Award Website: https://www.red-dot.org/award
Itoki Corporation was founded in 1890. With the mission statement "We Design Tomorrow's Work," the company manufactures and sells office furniture, designs office spaces, provides working style consulting and office data analysis services. With a strength in "AI x Design based on PEOPLE," it supports the creation of various "spaces," "environments," and "places," including furniture for working and learning from home, and equipment for public and logistics facilities.
In recent years, Itoki has positioned employee engagement as a key management indicator, working to maximize human capital by investing in office environments, strengthening internal communication, and promoting DE&I. Furthermore, through the development of eco-friendly, sustainable products and the promotion of resource circulation, the company aims to realize a society where "People and the Earth are vibrant" as stated in its vision statement.
The origins of Karimoku Furniture trace back to 1940 when founder Shohei Kato took over a long-standing timber business and started a small woodworking shop in Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture. The company refined its techniques by producing various wooden products and began selling its own wooden furniture in the 1960s. Establishing a foundation in the timber production field under the manufacturing concept of "High-Tech & High-Touch," which fuses advanced machinery technology with artisan skills, it has grown into one of Japan's leading wooden furniture manufacturers.
Web: https://www.karimoku.com/
Instagram: @karimoku_official
Official HP
The Red Dot Design Award is an internationally prestigious design competition organized by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany since 1955. It consists of three disciplines: Product Design, Brands & Communication Design, and Design Concept. Entries are evaluated based on nine criteria, including degree of innovation, functionality, ergonomics, ecology, and durability.
This product, recognized in the Product Design category, is a folding chair that utilizes domestic chestnut, a broadleaf wood that has rarely been used for furniture, finding new possibilities for the material. By combining the Company's production technology with Itoki's workspace design capabilities, it achieves both strength and exceptional design. The inherent lightness of chestnut wood has been sublimated into the advantage of mobility. This product indicates a new direction for the utilization of domestic timber.
- About the Award-Winning Product
"CROSSA WOOD" is a wooden chair for workspaces that allows for folding, self-standing, and nesting storage while maintaining a beautiful silhouette similar to a dining chair.
- Effective Utilization of Domestic Timber through the Fusion of Technology and Design
The back and seat of "CROSSA WOOD" are made of domestic chestnut wood, a broadleaf tree with low specific gravity and a strong grain. Until now, chestnut has not been commonly used as a material for furniture such as chairs, which require strength. In this product, utilizing the material lamination technology cultivated by the Company, diverse domestic chestnut wood—ranging from thick to thin diameters and even curved pieces—is processed into uniform narrow widths. By combining them in a laminated structure, a delicate and beautiful design has been realized.
Furthermore, the hybrid structure with steel legs complements the strength, converting the characteristic lightness of chestnut wood into the unique convenience of folding chairs, such as ease of movement and setup. The bright and smooth finish achieved by our woodworking technology gives warmth and a rich texture to its universal form.
- Award Details
Product Name: CROSSA WOOD
Application: Wooden folding chair for workspaces
Designers: Yasuhiro Nakamura (Bau Design Co., Ltd.)
Yuki Takeya (Itoki Corporation)
Product Page (Itoki):
https://www.itoki.jp/special/econifa/product/crossa_wood/index.html
Red Dot Design Award 2026
An internationally prestigious design award held since 1955 by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany. Comprising Product Design, Communication Design, and Design Concept, it targets designs commercialized within the past two years, judged on nine criteria including innovation, functionality, ergonomics, ecology, and durability.
Red Dot Design Award Website: https://www.red-dot.org/award
Itoki Corporation was founded in 1890. With the mission statement "We Design Tomorrow's Work," the company manufactures and sells office furniture, designs office spaces, provides working style consulting and office data analysis services. With a strength in "AI x Design based on PEOPLE," it supports the creation of various "spaces," "environments," and "places," including furniture for working and learning from home, and equipment for public and logistics facilities.
In recent years, Itoki has positioned employee engagement as a key management indicator, working to maximize human capital by investing in office environments, strengthening internal communication, and promoting DE&I. Furthermore, through the development of eco-friendly, sustainable products and the promotion of resource circulation, the company aims to realize a society where "People and the Earth are vibrant" as stated in its vision statement.
The origins of Karimoku Furniture trace back to 1940 when founder Shohei Kato took over a long-standing timber business and started a small woodworking shop in Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture. The company refined its techniques by producing various wooden products and began selling its own wooden furniture in the 1960s. Establishing a foundation in the timber production field under the manufacturing concept of "High-Tech & High-Touch," which fuses advanced machinery technology with artisan skills, it has grown into one of Japan's leading wooden furniture manufacturers.
Web: https://www.karimoku.com/
Instagram: @karimoku_official
Official HP