#People
DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT: NENDO
A delightful Japanese designer
If you haven’t heard of nendo, you probably don’t get on the internet much these days. Oki Sato’s brand is absolutely everywhere. In 2013 alone, nendo has presented almost fifty products and projects, ranging from lighting to cutlery to dog toys. Of course, fifty already seems like a lot, but the Japanese designer has admitted to working on over two hundred projects at once! nendo’s designs are often simple, frequently geometric and always fun.
Most recently, nendo collaborated with Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa to create a pavilion for the Kyoto University of Art and Design. Built on a steep slope, the pavilion’s single smooth roof follows the hill, recreating the sensation of entering a thickly wooded forest. To complement the structure, nendo designed minimalistic, mushroom-like seats that sprout throughout the pavilion. Each “mushroom” was hand-made by artisans, further reinforcing the organic and whimsical nature of the design. nendo definitely puts the fun in fungi.
