In an age where minimalism has calcified into cliché, Tokyo-based design studio SEKISAI is making a radical proposition: More. More color. More texture. More emotion. But this isn’t maximalism as we once knew it—this is Maximal Design, a bold new concept driven not by ornamentation for ornamentation’s sake, but by a seamless fusion of form, color, and materiality through one of the most technically sophisticated 3D printing processes in the world.
Founded at the intersection of digital fabrication and Japanese craft sensibility, SEKISAI is rewriting the rules of CMF (Color, Material, Finish) design. Their innovation lies not only in what they make, but how they make it. While traditional manufacturing separates shaping from coloring, SEKISAI’s proprietary method combines both into a single, computationally controlled act of creation. The result is an extraordinary range of surfaces—shimmering, shifting, iridescent—where every angle reveals something new. This is not decoration. It’s transformation.
From fashion to mobility, interior architecture to object design, SEKISAI’s portfolio reads like a love letter to interdisciplinary collaboration. Their Tokyo-based atelier has become a playground for designers seeking to push the boundaries of what’s possible with material storytelling. In partnership with industry leaders and experimental minds alike, they offer not just fabrication, but vision.
Consider UKIYOE, an art partition inspired by the atmospheric gradients of traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Printed in transparent materials that echo the translucency of rain and light, the piece blurs the line between furniture and fine art. It’s a masterclass in contrast: deeply cultural, yet radically contemporary; static in form, yet kinetic in effect.
Or take SENSE BAR, a collaborative exploration of next-gen office textures with Japanese furniture giant ITOKI. Here, CMF becomes a language of spatial psychology—configurable surfaces that respond to mood, function, and future trends. These are not just textures; they are strategic tools for design-led environments.
At its core, SEKISAI represents a quiet revolution in how we think about surfaces. This isn’t about 3D printing as gimmickry. It’s about using advanced fabrication to return tactility, wonder, and emotion to the very planes we often overlook—walls, dividers, tabletops, frames. SEKISAI asks: what if surfaces could speak? What if they could tell stories—about tradition, about technology, about tomorrow?
For those fatigued by the flatness of contemporary design, SEKISAI offers an antidote. A new design future is being printed in Tokyo, and it’s anything but minimal.