Kai Wall Lamp by Kazuhide Takahama for Sirrah, 1980s

Kai Wall sconce designed by Kazuhide Takahama for Sirrah, Italy 1980s.
Opal glass structure, plastic.
Excellent condition.

Kazuhide Takahama (1930 - 2010) was born on the Japanese island of Kyushu. In 1953 he graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in architecture.

At 27 he became a lecturer at the same university and got his first assignment as designer: Takahama was commissioned to set up the Japanese pavilion for the XI Triennale in Milan in 1957. It is on this occasion that he meets Dino Gavina. This first meeting will mark an important turning point in his career and the beginning of a fruitful collaboration and deep friendship. Before returning home, Kazuhide Takahama designs the Naeko sofa for Gavina (Takahama’s first design put into series production and commercialised). During his stay in Japan he worked as a university professor and curator of architectural and design projects, but he still maintained contacts with Gavina who finally convinced him to move to Italy. He then arrives in Italy, with his wife Naeko and their eldest daughter Kaori, in 1963 and settles down in Bologna.

Numerous collaborations with Italian design companies: Gavina, Simon, Paradisoterrestre, B&B, Sirrah (later absorbed by Guzzini) to name a few. His professional activity is not limited to the design of furniture and lighting: he designs exterior and interior and looks after renovations of private residences and public commissions. Among the latter, we should mention the facade and the vip lounge of the Guglielmo Marconi airport and the canopies at the bus stops in Bologna.