The creations of Canadian-born Japanese designer and interior architect Oki Sato and his design studio, Nendo, are characterised by simplicity, lightness and elegance, while always embracing functionality and a sense of humour. Here are eight you need to know about.
Zens Fungi Series
Inspired by the sporadic growth of mushrooms, platforms of varied sizes, stacked on the rims to form unusual display combinations, seem to be sprouting from one another.
Axor Lampshower
Starting from the idea that the bathroom could open on to the living room, the creation is neither a lamp nor a shower, but a hybrid, where water jets emerge from the rim of the lampshade.
Rokumaru Coat Rack
Reinterpreting nature, Nendo designed a coat rack with six branches that are the radii of an imaginary circle, and it’s named after the union of the Japanese words roku (six) and maru (circle).
Glas Italia Soft Tables
The frosted glass low tables in the shape of boxes feature joints printed in bright colours with a gradation effect, as well as edges that give a soft, blurry appearance – contrary to the usual image of glass.
Kartell Eigroub Lamp
A tribute piece to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the brand’s Bourgie table lamp, it
is the result of Nendo inverting and rotating the lamp’s silhouette, rather than touching the original design.
INAC Hourglasses
Each of the four hourglasses
is made from polished acrylic and directs the flow of coloured sand in different ways, in order to show how time can be presented in an interesting visual manner.
Cappellini Yuki Screen
Composed of simple snowflake-shaped plastic elements that are interconnected, it allows for compositions of different dimensions.