RIO KOBAYASHI
b. 1996, JapanRio Kobayashi was born in 1989 in the pottery town of Mashiko, Japan and currently lives and works in London. With both Austrian and Japanese heritage, his design practice draws from his background, blending traditional crafts with modern sensibilities. Kobayashi’s eclectic work takes a collaborative and playful approach to fine craftsmanship, experimenting with fabrication techniques based on a rigorous knowledge in materials. Before setting up his own studio and workshop in East London in 2017, he worked with international studios in Milan, Berlin, Innsbruck, Paris and London.
Kobayashi was awarded the 2025 London Design Festival’s Emerging Design Medal and Best Curio for his commission for Blunk Space at Design Miami 2024. Solo exhibitions include Crooked Pencils, Kate MacGarry, London (2025) and_Manus Manum Lavat (One Hand Washes the Other)_, Cromwell Place, London (2023). Group shows include Rio Kobayashi & Fritz Rauh, Blunk Space, Point Reyes, CA, USA (2025); The Equal Right to Live and Blossom, Kate MacGarry, London (2024); Grazie Enzo: Contemporary Responses to Enzo Mari, Design Museum, London (2024); 100 Hooks, Blunk Space, Point Reyes, CA, USA (2023) and R for Repair, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2022).
Text courtesy Kate MacGarry.
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