East influences West at Caran d’Ache
Japanese architecture plus Swiss know-how equals next-level pens
One is a legendary Japanese architect known for his use of stone and wood to create buildings in harmony with their natural surroundings. The other is a venerable Swiss brand of “writing instruments” whose tins of rainbow-coloured pencils separated the well-off kids from the rest of us in sixth-form geography. Now, Kengo Kuma and Caran d’Ache have teamed up to produce a ballpoint, a rollerball and a fountain pen inspired by traditional Japanese architecture, crafted from hinoki cypress, a so-called “noble” wood revered for its high quality and its deployment in temples, shrines and traditional Noh theatres.
“Since discovering Caran d’Ache in junior high school, I’ve always felt I could draw precise, clear lines with their instruments,” Kuma tells Esquire. “Their tools enabled me to express the rhythm of my inner self.”
The pens’ material and pattern are closely connected to Japan. “Hinoki cypress is a special tree for Japanese people,” Kuma says. “For example, it is used to create buildings like [Japan’s most sacred shrine] the Ise Grand Shrine. We also use the chidori [plover] pattern for various architectures, so I tried to reproduce the pattern’s rhythm onto the body of the pen. Yet this is not a nostalgic design, but rather a design for the future.”
Wood and metal, Kuma says, are perfectly balanced: together they feel natural in the hand. And could these elegant products turn the user into a world-class draughtsman?
“Handwriting and drawing can be the purest form of expressing the inner soul on paper,” Kuma says. “When others see the distinct, hexagonal lines I have created with Caran d’Ache in our collaboration, I hope it inspires others to try their hand, too.”
In other words, no. ○