Thursday, March 20, 2008

Nendo



'Alice's Tea Party' was held at Ozone Living Design Center in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of English tea brand Lipton’s presence in Japan. This incredible event design featured custom made shrunken and oversized furniture - inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. I think this is my favourite of Nendo's projects, and won them a Gold Award at the JCD design awards.

Chocolate-pencils - a collaboration with Japanese patissier Tsujiguchi Hironobu. diners can shave the chocolate shavings onto their dessert using the sharpener. 'Pencil filings are usually the unwanted remains of sharpening a pencil, but in this case, they're the star!'


'Meguro Office' interior fit-out in Tokyo

Some examples of Nendo's product design. On the left - 'Ribbon' stool produced by Cappellini (winner of a red dot award 2007), on the right - Bowls from Nendo's 2006 '1% series'.

Unique climbing wall design for the exclusive Illoiha fitness club in Omotesando, Tokyo. Winner again of a gold award at the JCD design awards 2006.

I first read about Japanese design outfit Nendo in *Wallpaper magazine a year or two ago, and they struck a chord with me immediately. I was so inspired by their multidisciplinary approach - their impressive portfolio of work includes architecture, interior design, event design, furniture design, product design and graphic design. I LOVE this varied approach to design! It's worth a visit to their website to trawl through through their portfolio... such an impressive and varied collection. It must be an incredible place to work!

Nendo is made up of 6 designers from varied backgrounds - but Oki Sato, who set up the company in 2002, is an architect. He created Nendo only 2 years after completing his architecture degree in Tokyo, and I just read on his website that he was born in 1977 - which means he's only 30!! Aggh.

One of Nendo's ongoing projects is their 1% series - a series of products made in limited editions of only 100, so that consumers can experience 'the joy of owning 1%'! (pieces from this collection available at the 1% website)

ps) There's an interview with Oki Sato here (Mocoloco).

4 comments:

  1. What an amazing post! I love the office interior and the climbing wall - so creative!

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  2. Thanks Ashley! I find these guys so inspiring... Their work is so unique - slick but kooky at the same time :) Thanks so much for your comment! Lucy x

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  3. What a fantastic blog Lucy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it from start to finish as well as exploring sites via your links. Both your work and that which you represent is truly inspiring. Looking forward to having a chat.

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  4. Wow thanks so much for your kind words Ineke :)

    I'm so flattered that you visited my site... Still got a few teething problems but its getting there... And there's no better motivation to improve it than positive feedback and encouragement!

    Thanks so much! Yes I hope to have a good chat with you soon.. maybe you would be open to an interview for this site at some point? Either way I'd love to catch up sometime soon! x

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