Sori Yanagi (1915-2011) was the most well-known, admired,and influential Japanese designer of the post-war period. A consummate modernist with a deep reverence for tradition, Yanagi's 50-year teaching and design career produced a myriad of forms linked by simplicity, economy of materials and means, and unassuming practicality. Buildings, bridges, teapots and torches all received the same thoughtful consideration, multiple hand-made models, and eventual production in the simplest, purest form.