MASANORI UMEDA
(Born 1941, Japan)

The Japanese designer Masanori Umeda took his diploma in design at the Kuwasawa Design School in Tokyo in 1962. Afterwards he went to Italy, where he worked in the Milan design practice of Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni from 1967 until 1969. From 1970 until 1979, Masanori Umeda worked as a design consultant for Olivetti, where he met Ettore Sottsass, who invited Umeda to show work at the first "Memphis" exhibition in 1981.

That year, 1981, Masanori Umeda designed "Tawaraya" for Memphis, seat furniture in the form of a boxing ring. The founding members of Memphis are shown in it in a celebrated Memphis group photo. Another Masanori Umeda design for Memphis is "Ginza" (1982), a shelving system in the form of a robot.

In 1986, Masanori Umeda returned to Japan and opened U-Meta Design, his Tokyo practice. (Source: Art Directory )