Heiwa Gokin, we+

This furniture collection was developed through a collaboration between Heiwa Gokin, a casting foundry based in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, and design studio we+.

we+ conducted extensive research at Heiwa Gokin’s foundry, closely observing casting processes, tools, and material behaviour. Through this investigation, attention was drawn to burrs—forms that emerge as metal solidifies and are normally removed during finishing.

For large-scale castings, sand moulds (moulds made from compacted sand) are produced in multiple parts according to the shape and size of the original model. When molten metal is poured and begins to solidify, excess material forms along the seams between these mould sections. These formations are known as burrs. Typically eliminated as imperfections, they are reinterpreted in this project as material traces that naturally arise from the casting process.

Panels cast with their burrs intact are layered and combined with aluminium boards to construct shelves and low tables. The collection translates material behaviour—generated within a controlled industrial process—into the structural language of furniture.

Unseen Objects / Overflow visualises the essential qualities of advanced casting techniques while reconsidering the cultural value of casting practices that are often overlooked. This work marks a new series within the Unseen Objects project, seeking to reframe casting culture as sources of form, meaning and possibility.