The shape gives it its name: the AA STOOL series is characterized by its archetypal minimalist design and consists of just a few connected wooden components. The furniture pieces, which are always supplied in pairs and are available in three different heights, can be interlocked, used in rows or individually and - like all furniture from the ISHINOMAKI LAB series - can be used in many places in living and working spaces. Whether as seating at a table, in break or meeting rooms at a greater height to form a circle or at the kitchen counter at the highest height - there is hardly a place where the stool cannot be used. AA STOOL stools can also be used as a furniture element, to build shelves or as table trestles - they can be used in endless ways.

Building your own furniture to make the world a little better is what designers and thinkers Enzo Mari and Victor Papanek were all about. Japanese architect Keiji Ashizawa took the idea a bit further: when an earthquake destroyed parts of Japan eleven years ago, he helped residents rebuild their cities with homemade furniture. In the meantime, the designs of the "Ishinomaki Lab" are also manufactured in Germany - from local woods by hand.

To this day, the designs are produced in Ishinomaki. But not only there: with the help of the "Made in Local" initiative, the "Ishinomaki Lab" shares its know-how with partners all over the world. A movement that promotes local craftsmanship. For example, the AA STOOL, designed by Torafu Architects, as well as the other products in our range, are manufactured in Germany by HLZFR.

With its exposed screws, natural wood and handcrafted look, these furniture types show how beautifully simple can be.

The spirit of do-it-yourself - "Monozukuri" in Japanese - is also exported all over the world by the "Ishinomaki Lab". In addition to regular DIY woodworking and furniture-making workshops in Ishinomaki and Tokyo, there have been similar projects in Manila, Singapore, Berlin, London, Guadalajara, Busan, Copenhagen and Detroit. "People didn't just make things in the workshops," Ashizawa says. "But also learned that design can solve problems." In this way, the "Ishinomaki Lab" shows not only the profound impact craft can have on our lives - but also how design can be reimagined in an environmentally and community friendly way.