Toshiyuki Kita was born in Osaka in 1942. He graduated in Industrial Design and in 1967 opened his own studio in his hometown.
From there began his interest and study for lifestyles and ancient traditions of the surrounding region that will lead him to become a profound connoisseur of the millennial techniques of working Japanese lacquer (urushi) and paper (washi).

The designer has in fact conjugated two great traditions: the millenary Japanese art of lacquering a wooden object from the sap of a now very rare tree, and the art of shaping a noble metal like silver.

His works have been exhibited in some of the most prestigious locations in the world: at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, at the Pompidou Center in Paris, at the Museum of Modern Art in Hiroshima.

In ’66, with Branzi, Corretti and Morozzi, he founded the radical architectural firm Archiom Associati in Florence which ended its activity in 1972.
Since then he works independently in Milan.