Design | 1% Tea Pots and Flower Vases by nendo are Nearly-Exclusive

The Japanese design firm nendo was founded in Tokyo in 2002 by designer Oki Sato. Sato originally started in architecture, receiving his MA from Waseda University, Tokyo.

Above image: Block vase by nendo. Photograph by Hiroshi Iwasaki.

One of the firm’s side projects is “1%” which the Japanese design site Spoon & Tamago describes as Sato’s rejection of the notions of both unique pieces and mass-produced works. Instead, each item in the 1% collection is made 100 times, meaning that someone who buys one of the pieces owns 1 percent of the entire run.

In 2012 the firm produced a component flower vase and a line of small teapots. The vase can be scaled depending on the size of the flower. The company states:

A set of small bud vases that can be stacked together like building blocks. The vase comes in four different sizes, carefully measured to fit together without disturbing the vase on the bottom. With careful stacking, the cases can accommodate a tall flower by running it through the vase on the top.

The top tea set is a diminutive, adorable teapot that includes a wooden lid. In addition to its design aiding in the process of steeping, the lid can be spun like a top while you sip your afternoon tea:

A teapot and cup set. The thick wooden lid provides good insulation to keep the tea warm, and its pointed centre condenses steam into liquid and directs it back into the teapot, rather dripping down the sides. The lid becomes a top, and can be spun on the tabletop for amusement while drinking tea.

The set also includes a handsome collection of stacking sake mugs.

A sake set consisting of pitcher and cups, in the form of stacks of cups. The different sizes correspond to different types of drinks: one cup is a choko small glass, two cups stacked a slightly larger one, and four cups stacked a tumbler. The stack of five cups is actually a pitcher for sake. Because all of the cups have the same shape, they can be stacked together when not in use, and the one-cup choko doubles as a lid for the pitcher. When the pitcher is heated, for drinking warm sake, the cups can be warmed simultaneously, too.

You can visit the 1% collection here, although the site appears to be down for now.

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