What is the experience of good design? How can design elicit inspiration and enrich life to make it more interesting? In the design process, when is a balance achieved between keeping what is essential and subtracting the superfluous? These are the questions that contribute to the philosophy of Nendo and its co-founder, Oki Sato, who was Luminaire’s guest of honor during the 2012 NeoCon fair.
On June 12th, Sato was celebrated at the Chicago showroom for a private editors’ luncheon and public reception at which nearly 500 celebrated the launch of Luminaire’s latest design-driven event aimed at making good design accessible to all. Entering the showroom’s third floor, guests were first treated to a spectacular vision of innovation in blown glass with Nendo’s stunning Growing Vases chandelier for company Lasvit.
Among the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd on each level, many friends of Luminaire including designers Jeffrey Bernett, Patricia Urquiola, Todd Bracher, Jonathan Olivares and Jake Dyson, as well as long-time clients, enjoyed the opportunity to see an entire range of work by the designer and his studio. Fruitful collaborations with various manufacturers included the Rokumaru coat stand for DePadova, the new “nendo collection” for Bisazza Bagno and several key pieces for Cappellini. Making its US debut as part of Luminaire’s installation was also Nendo’s work for new Singapore-based company K%. A celebrated focal point of April’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, the varied works in the black&black collection intrigued guests with poetic form and a harmonious balance of concept and function.
We are deeply grateful to Oki Sato for joining us and also wish to express our thanks to K%, Lasvit, Bisazza, Cappellini and Foscarini as well as Voveti for its additional support.
June 2012
