Oki Sato, the founder of Japanese studio Nendo, is one of the most prolific designers in the world. "If I focus on only one or two projects," he explained a while ago to Dezeen, "I can only think about one or two projects. When I start thinking about working on close to 400 projects, it relaxes me. It's like a top; when it is spinning very fast it is stable and when it starts to spin slowly it starts to get wobbly."

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Nendo was founded in Tokyo in 2002, the year Sato graduated in architecture at Waseda University. The name means clay in Japanese. 

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Despite his studies in architecture, Oki Sato focuses on design at first. The inspiration comes in Milan, during a visit to the Salone del Mobile. So it is no coincidence that in 2005 Nendo opened an office also in Milan, a city in which Oki Sato feels at home. "With 3D printers," he explained, "communication is very simple, I can create a prototype and send it to the other side of the world".

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In Japan, the idea of designing objects, furniture, houses in a free and flexible way, with a playful and irreverent spirit, almost like a child does with plasticine, is revolutionary but proves to be successful. As well as in the rest of the world: among others, Nendo and Oki Sato are awarded the Wallpaper* Award for Designer of the Year, the Maison & Objet Designer of the Year award, the Good Design Award, the Red Dot Design Award and the Honorable Mention the Compasso d'Oro, as well as a number of ELLE DECO awards.

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No wonder, however, considering that Oki Sato calls himself a "nerd", an "otaku", "a design addict." One that, to balance the hectic pace of his work that makes him travel constantly, has a strong adversion to change in his private life. Sato took revenge from life, as he is now paid to stare at a white wall with a blank look on my face in search of his next inspiration, when as a child he was punished by teachers for this very attitude.

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This year he will turn 40 and his approach is incredibly versatile. With Nendo, he signed a variety of projetcs, including an earthquake survival kit, an ice cream for Häagen-Dazs and the logo and uniforms of the rugby team of Waseda University. Minimalism characterizes all hiss projects, and his cheerful personality makes him a perfect host of TV and radio programs in Japan. After all, "design should surprise people, make them happy, give them a thrill."

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Nendo's creations are often the subject of exhibitions. And maybe even of some concern: last year, the curator of The Space in Between retrospective at the Design Museum Holon in Tel Aviv, Maria Cristina Didero, stated: “When Oki Sato is 70 we’ll need a whole plaza to display everything he’s done.”

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