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.
Gervasoni Kasane 39 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Sabbia
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 39 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 36 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Giada
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 36 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Alias Okome 005 Grey Upholstered Seat with Backrest and Table by Nendo
By Nendo, Alias
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Alias Okome 005 Grey Upholstered Seat with Backrest and Table by Nendo Seat composition with seat and backrest with removable cover in eco-leather Serge...
Upholstery
$5,946 / item
Gervasoni Kasane 35 Table by Nendo
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Literally “overlapping”, Kasane is the latest collection designed by the Japanese studio, Nendo. Thanks to a play on the weaving and overlapping of different elements, each product becomes a sculpture. Inspired by the way in which the cups, stacked one on top of the other, become gradually taller, the collection of poufs and tables...
Foam
$6,185 / item
Gervasoni Kasane 36 Table by Nendo
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Literally “overlapping”, Kasane is the latest collection designed by the Japanese studio, Nendo. Thanks to a play on the weaving and overlapping of different elements, each product becomes a sculpture. Inspired by the way in which the cups, stacked one on top of the other, become gradually taller, the collection of poufs and tables...
Foam
$5,511 / item
Bambi Table in White by Nendo for Cappellini
By Nendo, Cappellini
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Bambi table, which can also be used as a desk, was designed by Nendo. Completely matte lacquered in the colours white, black and mud, the table is composed of a top made of folde...
Aluminum
Bambi Table in Black matt varnished Finish by Nendo for Cappellini
By Nendo, Cappellini
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Bambi table, which can also be used as a desk, was designed by Nendo. Completely matte lacquered in the colours white, black and mud, the table is composed of a top made of folde...
Aluminum
Gervasoni Kasane 35 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Giada
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 35 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
$11,994 / item
Gervasoni Kasane 33 Table by Nendo
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Literally “overlapping”, Kasane is the latest collection designed by the Japanese studio, Nendo. Thanks to a play on the weaving and overlapping of different elements, each product becomes a sculpture. Inspired by the way in which the cups, stacked one on top of the other, become gradually taller, the collection of poufs and tables...
Foam
Gervasoni Kasane 39 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Pietra
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 39 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 39 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Giada
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 39 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 39 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Terracotta
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 39 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 38 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Stone
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 38 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 38 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Sabbia
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 38 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 38 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Giada
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 38 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 38 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Terracotta
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 38 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 36 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Stone
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 36 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 36 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Sabbia
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 36 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 36 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Terracotta
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 36 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 35 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Stone
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 35 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 35 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Sabbia
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 35 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 35 Table - design Nendo - Clay-finished structure - Terracotta
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 35 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, is part of a collection that expresses a sculptural and minimalist language inspired by the concept of "Kasane," meaning layering...
Clay
Gervasoni Kasane 33 Table - design Nendo, clay-finished structure - Pietra
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 33 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, expresses a sculptural and minimalist aesthetic, defined by soft volumes and a strong material identity. Its elongated rectangula...
Clay, Plastic
Gervasoni Kasane 33 Table - design Nendo, clay-finished structure - Sabbia
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 33 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, expresses a sculptural and minimalist aesthetic, defined by soft volumes and a strong material identity. Its elongated rectangula...
Clay, Plastic
Gervasoni Kasane 33 Table - design Nendo, clay-finished structure - Giada
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 33 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, expresses a sculptural and minimalist aesthetic, defined by soft volumes and a strong material identity. Its elongated rectangula...
Clay, Plastic
Gervasoni Kasane 33 Table - design Nendo, clay-finished structure - Terracotta
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 33 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, expresses a sculptural and minimalist aesthetic, defined by soft volumes and a strong material identity. Its elongated rectangula...
Clay, Plastic
Gervasoni Kasane 31 Table - design Nendo, clay-finished structure - Pietra
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 31 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, expresses a sculptural and minimalist aesthetic, defined by soft volumes and a strong material identity. Its elongated oval shape...
Clay, Plastic
Gervasoni Kasane 31 Table - design Nendo, clay-finished structure - Sabbia
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 31 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, expresses a sculptural and minimalist aesthetic, defined by soft volumes and a strong material identity. Its elongated oval shape...
Clay, Plastic
Gervasoni Kasane 31 Table - design Nendo, clay-finished structure - Giada
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 31 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, expresses a sculptural and minimalist aesthetic, defined by soft volumes and a strong material identity. Its elongated oval shape...
Clay, Plastic
Gervasoni Kasane 31 Table - design Nendo, clay-finished structure - Terracotta
By Nendo, Gervasoni
Located in Alcamo, IT
The Kasane 31 table by Gervasoni, designed by Nendo, expresses a sculptural and minimalist aesthetic, defined by soft volumes and a strong material identity. Its elongated oval shape...
Clay, Plastic
$3,021 / item
La Manufacture-Paris Trio Table Designed by Nendo
By Nendo
Located in New York, NY
At first sight, Trio is a side table that consists of three transparent bowls overlapping one another. The opening of each bowl is covered with either a glass, metal or wood top. Th...
Metal
$2,660 / item
La Manufacture-Paris Trio Table Designed by Nendo
By Nendo
Located in New York, NY
At first sight, Trio is a side table that consists of three transparent bowls overlapping one another. The opening of each bowl is covered with either a glass, metal or wood top. Th...
Metal
$1,273 / item
La Manufacture-Paris Trio Table Designed by Nendo
By Nendo
Located in New York, NY
At first sight, Trio is a side table that consists of three transparent bowls overlapping one another. The opening of each bowl is covered with either a glass, metal or wood top. Th...
Metal
$1,881 / item
La Manufacture-Paris Creek Table Designed by Nendo
By Nendo
Located in New York, NY
Creek is a table that suggests a stream of water flowing freely across its surface and around islands, circling around the table tops placed in opposite corners. The tables come in ...
Metal