Take shape with light. Freedom with metals.
Instead of creating what is being sought, we create what no one has imagined. That's the IG style.
We went beyond the existing concept of metal sidings to create a novel category of "luxury panels" with deep engravings and extensive shadows that have never existed before. We have released two new products, the titanium made "Xium-TITAN" and the aluminum made "Xium-ALUMI". Both products have been designed by our company in collaboration with KEN OKUYAMA DESIGN led by Mr.Kiyoyuki Okuyama, an industrial designer born in Yamagata prefecture who is famous around the world for designing Enzo Ferrari cars. We are extremely proud of the final result that is born from this ultimate partnership between Mr. Okuyama, who has tremendous expertise in the aesthetics of metal craftsmanship, and our company, which aims to create exterior wall and roofing materials with high quality and functionality. The texture and aesthetic of these design panels make them versatile enough to match both Japanese and Western styles.
As a manufacturer specializing in metal exterior materials, we believe that it is our mission to offer the ultimate in beautiful metal, based on our belief in pursuing perfection in metal.
Finding a way to evolve and develop our company while maintaining extremely high innovation standards had become our major challenge moving forward. One of our best answers to this challenge and creation is the introduction of "Xium" to the world. Our challenge is to stride into the future to manufacture high-quality and high-performance exterior wall and roofing materials by thoroughly exploring architectural design using our ideas and technology. As the results of our project that marks our company's 50th anniversary in 2020, "Xium" is the flagship product representing the pinnacle of IG Kogyo that will allow our company to continue on our journey to become a global brand.
digest version, 3 minutes
(Japanese)
The "pinnacle of the extraordinary" created with metal.
Although titanium metal is robust and highly resistant against corrosion and heat, it is a costly material that is difficult to smelt and process. Our company has tackled these issues by collaborating with KEN OKUYAMA DESIGN to develop "Xium-TITAN", a material for interior and exterior finishings that possesses an elegant texture and a three-dimensional form. This "pinnacle of the extraordinary" is created with titanium metal. We are proud to release this industrial product that cannot be found elsewhere in the world.
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Width
- 200mm
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Height
- 200mm
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Thickness
- 28mm
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Joint
- 0mm
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Metal Sheet
Thickness - 0.6mm
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Design Price
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5,370
yen
per piece
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Certified Noncombustible Material
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Certification NumberNM-8596
Presenting the choice of luxury panels.
"Xium-ALUMI" is a product born from our attempt to create an exterior material with an innovative design using aluminum. Aluminum metal is cool, yet delicate, and has an excellent texture. Drawing on the metal's flexibility and malleability, our company worked with KEN OKUYAMA DESIGN to explore how to make the most of its structural aesthetics to create metal panels with deeply chiseled features. The result is the birth of "luxury panels" that had never existed among materials used in the past for interior and exterior finishings.
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Width
- 200mm
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Height
- 200mm
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Thickness
- 38mm
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Joint
- 0mm
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Metal Sheet
Thickness - 1mm
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Design Price
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4,610
yen
per piece
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Certified Noncombustible Material
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Certification NumberNM-5135
Gallery
- Delight in a house with an indoor garage Products used:Xium-TITAN
- Xium alters its expression as the sunlight changes hour by hour.
That blissful moment as you gaze upon your car is the pinnacle of the extraordinary created with the metal of titanium.
- Taking in the nighttime view from the veranda Products used:Xium-TITAN
- The elegant texture and three-dimensional form of Xium is expressively highlighted with illuminated light.
Transform the ordinary into a sophisticated and stylish space with Xium, shaping the ultimate in beautiful metal.
- Entrance （Day） Products used:Xium-ALUMI
- The cool, yet delicate, texture and the deeply chiseled three-dimensional shape of Xium-ALUMI come together to create a luxurious space.
- Entrance （Night） Products used:Xium-ALUMI
Experts' Comments
The beauty of the natural world created by technology
Minerals that were produced when the earth began were complete at the time of their birth, so they did not evolve like plants and animals. However, by objects and people interacting with them, they showed amazing evolutions in terms of their appearances. “Xium” was also produced as a result of these advanced evolutions.
After the element was discovered in 1807, the industrialization of aluminum started with the development of refining methods after its discovery and made its way into our lives in a variety of forms.
On the other hand, titanium was discovered before aluminum in 1791, but it was not until 1910 that it was introduced to the world as pure titanium. By the way, private uses of titanium in Japan started in the 1970s when I was born. There is a sense of romantic adventure in minerals in terms of how change forms through many academics and researchers.
“Xium-TITAN” gives you a sense of the shining surface of the water, and “Xium-ALUMI” gives you a feel of the breeze. From these two types of “Xium” aggregates, you can feel the “shining” that is hard to express in terms of form and the “breeze” that cannot be seen. That is probably an impression that comes from how the reflected light feels like it is touching the air and wavering.
With the combination of its parts, “Xium” can make many types of adaptations to multiple and narrow surfaces so that the surface can be expressed in a variety of ways.
For specific usage example of “Xium,” I can imagine many design usages for furniture such as the doors of wall storage and the backs of sofas and chairs. Also, for the interior design, I want to challenge myself to use it on ceiling surfaces, wall surfaces of alcoves, and bathrooms.
This high-end product can bring us a life that makes us have a sense of the light and the wind. I think it reproduces the “beauty of nature”.
- BIOGRAPHY
- He is an interior designer and CEO of OGATA Inc. and Ogata Ken-ichi Design Office Ltd. He was born in 1970 in Sendai City. In 1998, he established OGATA Inc. with his younger brother. One of his major works is the BeanStool, and he is active in many areas such as designing original furniture/creation, store design, interior and exterior design, and house design/construction. Like his house, OGATA YAMA, he produces innovative and practical designs that are the result of pursuing originality as well as intricate design process without any compromise focusing 120% on the small details as well. The degree of perfection and elaborate creations have received high evaluations in Japan and the world.
An expressive finish and form that brings the metallic texture to life.
IG KOGYO's new products are unusual as far as building materials go. While they are light, I was impressed by their quiet elegance. They are just like the kinds of materials youʼd find used for high-end vehicles. Clean and lean in form, they can create different effects depending on the type of light source -including sunlight- and how the light strikes them. I found them such beautiful materials.
”Xium-TITAN" features a simple design and emphasizes the beauty of the material itself. Many possibilities for ways it could be used come to mind. It made me think of mosaic tiles on a medieval church somewhere.
Meanwhile, "Xium-ALUMI" features a dynamic curve. Used sequentially, it creates an interesting wave-life movement. The deep silver that is peculiar to aluminum creates natural gradations of tone from white to grey. These variations in tone can be enjoyed from different viewing angles.
Both products have an elegant sheen that you just never tire of. Your wall is sure to look gorgeous no matter how the materials are combined and used. What surprised me was how light these materials felt in my hand. While they have the supple strength of metals, they have this wonderful, irresistible lightness. The most outstanding characteristic that they both share must surely be the richness of expression that comes from their form and finish, which capitalizes on the metallic texture of titanium and aluminum. Iʼd love to try them out in different kinds of spaces.
- BIOGRAPHY
- Born in New Jersey, USA, 1979. Returned to Japan in 1987. Was later raised in Canada, England, and Tokyo. 2004: Finished Master's Degree (Architecture), Waseda University Graduate School, then started to work for Sauerbruch Hutton Architects (Berlin) in the same year. Moved from Germany back to Japan in 2008 and set up an architectural design office. Designed a home-cum-dojo for the philosopher Tatsuru Uchida. Has written numerous books including “The Dialog of Architecture” and “Our House.”
When functionality is pursued, therein lies the beauty. What technical experts seek beyond functionality is a beauty that does not simply stop at design. This can be called functional beauty.
People can discern sophisticated functional beauty. For this reason, technical experts pursue functional beauty until they reach unparalleled sophistication. Given that we are engineers, "metals" are at the forefront of nature in our minds. Throughout our long history, the fact that we went beyond plants, sand, and stone to become able to use metals is itself the history of the progress of humankind, and the research and development of metallic materials has consistently and continuously been leading-edge science in each generation.
From this history, humans feel nostalgia from plants and evolution from metals. The sophistication that is sensed from metals smells of progress and development. The option of metallic materials represents the usage of state-of-the-art wisdom. This is why metallic materials give off an urban, luxurious, extravagant air.
”Xium" is a sophisticated metallic design panel that has been born through the collaboration between IG Kogyo Co., Ltd., which has cultivated techniques through its involvement with metal siding for 50 years, and KEN OKUYAMA DESIGN leading by Kiyoyuki Okuyama, who is a world-class industrial designer. The sophistication that this functionally beautiful non-ferrous metallic material of titanium and aluminum exudes will inspire the power that is hidden within the people who lay their eyes on it. By all means, please feel the functional beauty of ”Xium", which stimulates people's creativity and arouses urban ambition.