Omer Arbel was born in 1976 in Jerusalem, Israel and grew up in Vancouver, Canada, where his family moved when he was a teenager. He studied environmental science and later architecture at the University of Waterloo, grounding his practice in deep material research and spatial thinking. In 2005 he founded Omer Arbel Office (OAO), an interdisciplinary design practice that bridges architecture, industrial design, sculpture, invention, and materials experimentation.
Arbel is also co-founder and creative director of Bocci, a Vancouver and Berlin-based design and manufacturing company known for its ambient glass lighting and sculptural forms. His work prioritizes analog processes and traditional skills such as glassblowing, metalwork, and concrete forming, allowing the inherent qualities of materials to guide form and expression. Arbel’s designs and installations have been exhibited at major international venues including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Salone del Mobile in Milan. He has received multiple awards and honors for his contributions to design and continues to influence contemporary lighting through experimental and poetic exploration of light and materials.
