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Japanese design studio Nendo exhibited Nendo: Whispers of Nature at the Paola Lenti showroom for Milan Design Week 2024. Put together in a small abandoned building, set for conversion into a boutique hotel in 2026, the showcase celebrated the studio’s 20th year of participation in the design week. Oki Sato, founder of the Tokyo and Milan based studio, returned to the theme of nature which is intrinsic to the Japanese culture, by exploring everyday phenomena such as ‘the ambiguity of clouds, the relationship between light and shadow, the flow of time perceived underground or during a passing rain, and plants soaked in water,' as per the design team.
The solo exhibition showcased Nendo’s five new product collections. Passing Rain embodies the passage of time into objects through a series of five bowls. Thin lines resembling rain streaks were crafted of 2 mm stainless steel rods, welded and seamlessly screwed to the bowl. The mirrored base which reflects the rain has been welded from the back at optimal temperature to prevent plate distortion. The collection captures fleeting moments of time corresponding to still frames of a passing rain.
Clustered Clouds is a collection of four translucent shelves, inspired by the ambiguous cloud formation interpreted as a 'cluster of translucency'. The volume of emptiness from the excavation of these geometric shelves from rectangular forms conjured the nature of clouds. The stainless perforated metal informing the design, struck a delicate balance between thickness and perforation density to achieve optimal visibility. While the overlapping metal sections created a moiré pattern, introducing visual complexity, the alignment of perforations in the back panel was rotated by 30 degrees based on digital simulations, to moderate the moiré effect.
Pond Dipping drew inspiration from the natural process where plants in ponds and swamps absorb water and mud, resulting in gradual discolouration. Nendo fashioned a series of six carpet designs exploring a spectrum of patterns, which were experimented with by the dipping angle and spools of varying thicknesses. Diverging from the traditional Japanese weaving culture of 'kasuri-ori,' which involved masking threads to achieve faded effects, Sato wrapped the threads around cylindrical tubes and partially immersed the spools in black dye, to attain “patterns of nature.”
Depth of Soil is a collection of terrazzo furniture which encapsulates “depth that expresses time.” The laser-cut acrylic pieces were individually dyed and stacked into six layers in a gradient pattern, to create depth which resembled the strata of soil. The terrazzo was further adorned with motifs reminiscent of ammonites, trilobites, and fossilised flora and fauna, cascaded over with resin plaster. This material was utilised to craft three tables and a chair for the exhibition.
Light and Shade explored the relationship between illumination and darkness through the complementing moulds and casts. Nendo assigned a unique function to each furniture piece from the collection where “the mould of one chair becomes another chair. Another mould becomes the base of a table, while its cast acts as a stool.” Objects such as lamps, shelves, and clocks combined moulds and casts in various configurations for versatile utility. The steel moulds featured a translucent black coating, emphasising materiality, while casts were finished in matte white acrylic resin, with the contrast enhancing the play of light and shadow.
Nendo presented a captivating narrative of nature’s whispers and the passage of time at this year’s Milan Design Week. Through its meticulous collections, the studio invited the visitors to contemplate the beauty of everyday moments that often get overlooked.
(Text by Simran Gandhi, intern at STIR)
Stay tuned with STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2024 which showcases the best of exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands and events to look out for. Explore EuroCucina and all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5vie Design Week, Isola Design Week, Brera Design District and Porta Venezia Design District.
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