Nao Iyama
Designer
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About
| First name | Nao |
| Last Name | Iyama |
| Username | naoiyama-com |
| City | Tokyo |
| Country | Japan |
| Biography | Nao Iyama is a Japanese product and furniture designer based between Tokyo and London. His practice explores how objects can create moments of awareness in everyday life by encouraging people to reconsider their relationship with materials, form, and function. Through furniture, lighting, and spatial interventions, he seeks to challenge habitual ways of interacting with objects and reveal the stories embedded within them. Educated in Product and Furniture Design at the University of the Arts London, Iyama developed a practice that combines hands-on making with conceptual research. His background in furniture craftsmanship, material experimentation, and international experience has shaped an approach that moves fluidly between traditional techniques and contemporary production methods. Rather than treating products as purely functional solutions, he views them as opportunities for dialogue among people, materials, and their surroundings. A recurring theme throughout his work is the reinterpretation of traditional materials and overlooked resources through contemporary design. He is particularly interested in how digital fabrication can expand the possibilities of craft while maintaining a connection to cultural heritage and local production. This can be seen in projects such as Off-Form Lamp, which combines handmade Japanese Washi paper with 3D-printed structures to propose a new design language that challenges conventional notions of Japanese minimalism through playful and unconventional forms. Whether working with recycled materials, industrial processes, or traditional crafts, Iyama's practice is driven by curiosity, experimentation, and a desire to create objects that inspire reflection. His work aims to bridge craft and industry, tradition and innovation, while encouraging a more conscious relationship between people and the designed objects that surround them. |
Education
| School / Course | Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts London |
| Graduated | 2024 |
Group Shows
| Show Name | No Space for Waste, Milan Design Week |
| Date | 2026 |