Some pieces of contemporary furniture try to command attention with statement-making forms, while others aim to seduce with pared-down, meticulously detailed perfection. Nendo is remarkable in its ability to blend these two seemingly disparate qualities in objects that are simultaneously provocative and beautiful in their simplicity. And this ability has made the Tokyo- and Milan-based studio one of the most sought-after design firms of the moment.
Nendo is best known for its expansive portfolio of furniture and accessories designed for such luxury makers as Baccarat, Bisazza, Boffi, Cappellini, De Padova, Emeco, FLOS, Foscarini, Fritz Hansen, Kartell, Lasvit, Louis Poulsen, Moroso and Swarovski, as well as for the one-off and limited-edition pieces presented by galleries like New York’s Friedman Benda. But its range is much broader.
Nendo’s full oeuvre runs the gamut from product packaging for such brands as Coca-Cola and Kenzo to large-scale urban-planning and architecture projects, including Tenri Station Plaza CoFuFun, which populated the space in front of a Japanese rail terminal with a series of conical pavilions, turning it into a sort of urban playground for people of all ages.
Whatever the undertaking, the studio’s approach remains the same: embodying lighthearted insights into the human experience in minimalist forms and details. Nendo’s Gaku collection, for the legendary lighting company FLOS, for instance, is based on a simple cup-shaped lamp in a square frame, which can be personalized and changed over time by adding magnetic accessories, including a bookend, mirror, vase and bowl, making it almost as playful as a grown-up dollhouse.
The now iconic Cabbage chair, Nendo’s most recognizable design, offers a whimsical way to deal with trash from the fashion industry. A fat roll of discarded paper used in the production of Issey Miyake’s pleated fabric is simply cut down the middle and its individual layers peeled open to create a seat.
It wasn’t always evident that chief designer and Nendo cofounder Oki Sato would spend his life finding subtle surprises in tables, floor lamps and chairs. He was born in Toronto, where his father worked for Pioneer Electronics, and moved with his family to Tokyo when he was 11. He studied architecture at Waseda University but found the program a little too narrow and rigid for his liking.
After graduating, in 2002, he traveled with friends to the Salone del Mobile in Milan and stumbled into the biggest aha moment of his life: He realized that architects could do more than design buildings — they could also design furniture, lighting and other objects. And the architects at the fair appeared to be enjoying plenty of creative freedom while doing so.
Upon returning to Tokyo, he founded Nendo, whose name means “flexible clay” in Japanese, with his classmate Akihiro Ito, the firm’s managing director. In 2005, they established a second office, in Milan. Within a few years, Nendo had become an omnipresent name at the fair that had inspired them.
Nendo’s wares have been acquired by such institutions as New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; London’s Victoria and Albert; and Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs and Centre Pompidou.
Find Nendo furniture on 1stDibs.
Kartell Sundial Modular Bookcase in Crystal and White by Nendo
By Kartell, Nendo
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Sundial is the bookcase whose dividing elements, placed in different directions, create a game of unexpected and original proportions.
Resin
$2,975 / item
Drop Low bookcase by Nendo for Cappellini
By Nendo, Cappellini
Located in Brooklyn, NY
An ingenious challenge against the force of gravity, the Drop, by Nendo, is a two-sided column bookshelf offered in 3 different heights. The Drop bookshelves are made of matte lacq...
Metal
$4,312 / item
Drop Medium bookcase by Nendo for Cappellini
By Nendo, Cappellini
Located in Brooklyn, NY
An ingenious challenge against the force of gravity, the Drop, by Nendo, is a two-sided column bookshelf offered in 3 different heights. The Drop bookshelves are made of matte lacq...
Metal
$4,900 / item
Drop High bookcase by Nendo for Cappellini
By Nendo, Cappellini
Located in Brooklyn, NY
An ingenious challenge against the force of gravity, the Drop, by Nendo, is a two-sided column bookshelf offered in 3 different heights. The Drop bookshelves are made of matte lacq...
Metal
$3,527 / item
Forest bookcase by Nendo for Driade
By Nendo, Driade
Located in Ravenna, IT
Bookcase designed by Nendo for Driade. The bookcase features shelves interspersed with rotated vertical elements, which serve as an aesthetic and functional element to support books....
Wood
Glas Italia Drift Sliding Door Cabinet H81cm (31.9in) - Nendo - Display Cabinet
By Glas Italia, Nendo
Located in Alcamo, IT
Drift, designed by Nendo for Glas Italia, is a cabinet with sliding doors crafted in extraclear acid-etched tempered glass, UV-bonded for durability. A black oak wooden box, serving ...
Glass, Wood
Glas Italia Drift Sliding Door Cabinet H131cm (51.6in) - Nendo Display Cabinet
By Glas Italia, Nendo
Located in Alcamo, IT
Drift, designed by Nendo for Glas Italia, is a cabinet with sliding doors crafted in extraclear acid-etched tempered glass, UV-bonded for durability. A black oak wooden box, serving ...
Glass, Wood
Glas Italia Deep Sea Open Bookcase - Smoked glass - design Nendo
By Glas Italia, Nendo
Located in Alcamo, IT
Deep Sea by Glas Italia, designed by Nendo, is an open bookcase crafted from extralight laminated and thermally bonded glass. Part of the Deep Sea collection of low tables and bookca...
Glass
Glas Italia Deep Sea Open Bookcase - Blue glass - design Nendo
By Glas Italia, Nendo
Located in Alcamo, IT
Deep Sea by Glas Italia, designed by Nendo, is an open bookcase crafted from extralight laminated and thermally bonded glass. Part of the Deep Sea collection of low tables and bookca...
Glass
Glas Italia Layers Bookshelf 200 cm (78.7 in) design Nendo - Orange, red, brown
By Glas Italia, Nendo
Located in Alcamo, IT
Layers by Glas Italia, designed by Nendo, is a sophisticated bookshelf that combines transparency, color, and modular design in a dynamic display of contemporary craftsmanship. The ...
Glass
Glas Italia Layers Bookshelf 160 cm (63 in) design Nendo - Blue Gray Violet
By Glas Italia, Nendo
Located in Alcamo, IT
Layers by Glas Italia, designed by Nendo, is a sophisticated bookshelf that combines transparency, color, and modular design in a dynamic display of contemporary craftsmanship. The ...
Glass
$7,220Sale Price / item|20% Off
Desalto STEP Small bookcase By Nendo
By Desalto, Nendo
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Simplicity of lines and lightweight volumes are the expressive key of the range of STEP bookcases designed by Nendo, able to harmonise and blend in na...
Wood
$8,880Sale Price / item|20% Off
Desalto STEP Large bookcase By Nendo
By Desalto, Nendo
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Simplicity of lines and lightweight volumes are the expressive key of the range of STEP bookcases designed by Nendo, able to harmonise and blend in na...
Wood
Glas Italia Drift Low TV Cabinet in Extra-Clear Frosted Glass by Nendo
By Glas Italia, Nendo
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Drift low TV cabinet by Glas Italia, designed by Nendo, is a refined storage piece that blends minimalism with striking visual illusion. Part of the Drift collection, this cabin...
Glass, Wood
Aquinas Red Oak Sliding Door Cabinet
By Brett Paulin
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Multi-functional sliding door cabinet, shown in natural red oak, outfitted with handmade knobs from Sweden and a blackened metal base. This cabinet is perfect...
Oak
$2,270
H 17.75 in W 17.25 in D 6 in
Cappellini Cross Medicine Cabinet in Gloss White, Thomas Eriksson, Italy, 1990s
By Cappellini, Thomas Eriksson
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Cappellini Cross Medicine Cabinet in Gloss White, Thomas Eriksson, Italy, 1990s. Equal parts storage solution and wall art, Thomas Eriksson's Cross...
Steel
$3,850
H 42 in W 40 in D 17 in
Gilbert Rohde Art Deco Paldao Cabinet Refinished Drop Front Secretary Bookcase
By Herman Miller, Gilbert Rohde
Located in Atlanta, GA
Clean Lined Art Deco Cabinet, designed by Gilbert Rohde for Herman Miller, American, circa 1930s. This piece is currently being refinished and will look wonderful when completed. Thi...
Metal
1960s cabinet with sliding doors
By Non-Standard Furniture and Lighting
Located in Milano, IT
Sliding door cabinet made of mahogany veneer and smoked glass, profiles are brass-plated aluminum.
Aluminum
$6,975 / item
H 78.75 in W 78.75 in D 15.75 in
Pontile Bookcase, in canaletto walnut, by Accardi Buccheri for Medulum
By Mauro Accardi & Silvia Buccheri
Located in Meolo, Venezia
Bookcase made of a series of solid wood poles with circular section, veneered shelves with solid wood edging, all made of Canaletto walnut finished with transparent paint. The head of the poles is coated with a blue protective paint. The system is completed by two storage compartments that feature sliding doors with integrated handle. The library is shipped semi assembled. Libreria costituita da pali continui a sezione circolare in legno massello. Ripiani impiallacciati con bordatura in massello. Il tutto realizzato in noce canaletto finito con vernice trasparente. La testa...
Wood, Walnut
Art Deco Sliding Door Display Cabinet, Czechoslovakia, 1940s
Located in Praha, CZ
This small Art Deco display cabinet was produced in Czechoslovakia during the 1940s. Constructed from beech plywood and spruce core board with a glass front door, the piece showcases...
Glass, Spruce, Plywood
3-Doors Black Display Cabinet
By Erbanisteria Roberto Gambella
Located in Milan, IT
Handcrafted by master craftsmen using prized tulipwood, this display cabinet brings a sophisticated, classic statement into any modern home. The inner storage unit in light walnut is revealed through the glass sides and three glass doors equipped with double hook closure. Six drawers split the shelving unit into two sections, the three wide shelves...
Wood
Mogens Koch Bookcases for Rud. Rasmussen
By Rud Rasmussen, Mogens Koch
Located in Copenhagen, DK
A cabinet and two bookcases in ash. Executed by Rud. Rasmussen. Reverse with paper labels ‘RUD. RASMUSSENS/SNEDKERIER/COPENHAGEN/DENMARK.
Ash
Sliding Tamboor Door Cabinet
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Sliding door two door cabinet from the late 1950s with two shelves. Tamboor doors in good vintage condition. Doors slide with ease. Cast iron hairpin legs. Two tone wood frame and do...
Steel
$13,132Sale Price / item|20% Off
H 75.8 in W 39.3 in D 19.6 in
Fabio Novembre Driade "Venus" Bookcase in Natural Oak, Designed
By Driade, Fabio Novembre
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The "Venus" bookcase designed by Fabio Novembre and manufactured by Driade. The structure is made of oak veneer while the statue consists of marble powder mixed with resin. Novembre draws his inspiration from the wooden crates used...
Marble
$3,749Sale Price|53% Off
H 70 in W 64.25 in D 16.5 in
Mid-Century Modern Burled Bookcase Wall Unit Cabinet by Johan Tapp for Gumps
By Johan Tapp, Gumps
Located in Lafayette, IN
Spectacular burled cabinet/wall unit designed by Johan Tapp for Gumps. Cabinet features beautiful book-matched burl veneered doors, solid brass hardwa...
Brass
$6,975 / item
H 78.75 in W 78.75 in D 15.75 in
Pontile Bookcase, in canaletto walnut, by Accardi Buccheri for Medulum
By Mauro Accardi & Silvia Buccheri
Located in Meolo, Venezia
Bookcase made of a series of solid wood poles with circular section, veneered shelves with solid wood edging, all made of Canaletto walnut finished with transparent paint. The head of the poles is coated with a blue protective paint. The system is completed by two storage compartments that feature sliding doors with integrated handle. The library is shipped semi assembled. Design by Accardi Buccheri for Medulum Libreria costituita da pali continui a sezione circolare in legno massello. Ripiani impiallacciati con bordatura in massello. Il tutto realizzato in noce Canaletto finito con vernice trasparente. La testa...
Wood, Walnut
Nendo Drop Two-Shelf Bookcase
By Nendo, Cappellini
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Drop two-shelf bookcase Designed by Nendo for Cappellini Measure: 21.5" W x 12.5" D x 27.75" H The two-shelf bookcase was first pres...
Metal
Nendo Drop Bookcase with Five Shelves
By Nendo, Cappellini
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Drop five-shelf bookcase Designed by Nendo for Cappellini Measures: 21.5" W x 12.5" D x 68.25" H. The five-shelf bookcase was first presented as a part of Nendo's 'dancing squares' ...
Metal