AJI PROJECT, 2024
Object
Rock End is a set of bookends in Aji stone that articulates core principles of Japanese design: formal clarity, attention to material, and a commitment to craftsmanship.
Each set is cut from a single block of stone, divided into two complementary parts. The outer surface preserves the natural irregularity of the material, while the inner face, which meets the books, is precisely polished to provide stability and protection.
The project brings together the physical presence of the stone with a restrained form, working with the contrast between rough and finished surfaces. Variations in the Aji stone, among the hardest and most compact, quarried in Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture, make each pair distinct, with shifts in tone and texture from piece to piece.
Available in a range of sizes and finishes, including the rust-toned sabi and the grey-veined komame, Rock End integrates quietly into both domestic and professional settings. It introduces a silent, material presence into the space, conveying a sense of tradition through a contemporary form.
The Japanese Brand AJI PROJECT
Aji Project is a Japanese initiative with a focused intent: to reintroduce Aji stone into contemporary life. Through three collections, it draws together design, craftsmanship, and sustainability, offering a present-day reading of an ancient material.
The STANDARD line brings together objects for daily use, beginning with the distinctive Rock End. It includes three core series: ROCK, which emphasizes the stone’s natural texture; CYLINDER and SQUARE, shaped around the fundamentals of stone carving, with clean cuts and primary geometries.
OMORI builds on the weight of the stone, treating it as an expressive element. Designers from different contexts—including Philippe Malouin—reinterpret the material through the lens of mitate, a Japanese approach that reconsiders form and meaning. The resulting pieces challenge conventional ideas of solidity and substance.
READYMADE looks to the margins of production, repurposing fragments once destined for construction or funerary use. Their irregularities become part of the design, giving form to vases, umbrella stands, and open-ended objects shaped as much by chance as by intention.
Through these three lines, Aji Project puts forward a considered model of production—one that renews the connection between place, material, and form. By working with contemporary designers, it repositions Aji stone within the rhythms of everyday life.
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Details
AJI PROJECT
The object is available on the website of Japanese producer AJI PROJECT >
Width : 200 mm
Depth: 100 mm
Height: 200 mm
Weight: 5.5kg
Aji Stone
