Both designers applied the principles of Tanka, a traditional Japanese poem, to design Isole, the Italian word for islands, where one person starts the poem and the other person finishes it. Nendo created sketches of soft shapes, like that of pebbles or islands, followed by Nichetto adding the connective elements and bases to unite the forms together, taking inspiration from his hometown of Venice, a city of archipelagos connected by bridges. The completed design is a bold, contemporary seating arrangement that creates a soft and inviting environment, perfect for living spaces, waiting areas and office spaces.
Also available as a 1 seater sofa armchair or a 3 seater sofa.
Oki Sato and Luca Nichetto are two designers from different cultures who share a mutual passion for design and a truly innovative way of collaborating.
Behind the Nendo trademark is Oki Sato, a Japanese designer born in Canada in 1977. Sato graduated in 2000 from Tokyo's Waseda University and went on to specialise in Architecture (2002). After graduating, Oki Sato founded Nendo Design Studio and has since gone on to create contemporary designs for Cappellini, Foscarini, Wastberg and Louis Poulsen.
Nichetto Studio was established by Luca Nichetto, first in Venice and then in Stockholm. The studio specialises in product design, industrial design, interior design and architecture, with each piece reflecting a deep passion, knowledge and appreciation for crafts combined with curated cultural references.
The two designers joined forces to create the Isole series for &Tradition, working via a long distance exchange of ideas inspired by a genre of traditional Japanese poetry called Tanka, where one person starts the poem and the other person completes it. A unique modular system, the individual components resemble a soft pebble you would find on a beach, connected by a simple armature inspired by Venice’s tradition of building bridges.