TRANSCENDERS:
Deconstructing Domestic Norms
2025
Design Academy Eindhoven
MA Contextual Design Graduation Project
Photo credits: Carlfried Verwaayen

Though patriarchy remains deeply embedded in Japanese domestic life — shaping material culture and reinforcing gender roles through everyday objects — designer Jun Fujisaku recalls playing with both Transformers and Barbies as a child with his twin sister. For him, transformation — from toy car to human figure — was a way to coexist with Barbie dolls while resisting fixed gender norms.

Building on this idea, he developed ‘Transcenders’ — objects that shift between domestic tools and office equipment, challenging the symbolic gender roles they embody. A broom becomes a briefcase, a cabinet turns into a desk, and an ironing board transforms into an office chair — referencing post-war ideals of ‘women at home’ and ‘men at work’. Aluminium frameworks peek through pine wood, blending the aesthetics of industrial and domestic interiors. These hybrid objects express the fluidity and inseparability of roles in everyday life, offering a subtle critique of rigid domestic norms.

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