Nao Tamura

Nao Tamura is a Japanese designer who moved to New York in 2010. She draws from both cultures for her work, resulting in extremely varied, beautiful, and gently emotive designs. Her work seeks a balance between contrasts such as nature and technology, delicacy and boldness, or Eastern and Western sensibilities. Tamura specialises in furniture, lighting, and homeware designs, and has worked with notable brands worldwide, including British design brand Established & Sons.

Nao Tumura’s installations have been exhibited around the world, including Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Salone del Mobile in Milan, and the Kyocera Museum in Kyoto. She shares her insights on the design industry through international forums such as TED Talk, the University of Milan. Throughout her career, she has been recognised with various notable awards, including the IF Design Award, the Good Design Award, The One Show, and Industrial Design Excellence Awards. Today, she continues to work from Brooklyn, New York City.

“Design is about asking questions—discovering a project’s underlying issues, unearthing history, exploring passions, and techniques. But perhaps most importantly, design is about communication." - Nao Tamura