MANU MATTERS

MANU MATTERS
Cover image missing

MANU builds object-to-human relationships. Their objects are all ‘characters’ to live alongside — not bought and sold, but adopted. Working across waste streams, the material becomes both the starting point and the guide, allowing its limitations to shape the design of each object. They craft objects from PET bottles, lemon peels, or sand — depending on what’s available around them. MANU believes this philosophy can help us rediscover the value of finite raw materials, encouraging more respect and care for the objects we live with.

Step inside the Future of Craft in MANU's Micro Factory and meet the latest addition to the MANU family.

Related Exhibitions
What began over 20 years ago as a spontaneous experiment in Tom Rossau’s Copenhagen workshop has evolved into a distinctive design philosophy. While shaping wooden slats into a cylindrical form, Tom discovered the expressive potential of light, material, and form, and a new chapter in Danish lighting design was born. Today, the collection has grown to include a wide range of materials and styles, yet the brand remains rooted in curiosity, craftsmanship, and sculptural design. Each lamp is still meticulously designed and handcrafted in Copenhagen, with a strong focus on quality and responsible production, bringing Danish design to interiors around the world.
Tom Rossau
January 12, 2022
Part of 2022
Part of 2023
Lighting
Part of 2025
Part of 2026
Mazo takes a thoughtful, hands–on approach to design, focusing on creativity, quality, and the small details that make a difference. They experiment with materials to refine their work, balancing beauty and function in a way that feels natural and deliberate. Rather than following trends, they prioritise durability and timeless appeal. Collaborating with architects and designers from the 1930s to today, they create pieces that meet contemporary needs while staying deeply rooted in history.
MAZO
December 22, 2021
Furniture
Lighting
Part of 2022
Part of 2023
Part of 2024
Viccarbe is an international brand of timeless design furniture focused on people’s well–being. Together with leading designers such as Patricia Urquiola, Piero Lissoni, Monica Armani, or Jaime Hayon, it creates enduring pieces made with responsible materials, where design and innovation evolve in coherence with its strong commitment to sustainability.
VICCARBE
January 30, 2024
Furniture
Part of 2022
Part of 2023
Part of 2024
Part of 2025
Natural Material Studio is an award-winning, Copenhagen-based design and research studio redefining material innovation for a fluid future. Founded in 2018 by Bonnie Hvillum, the studio transforms natural and discarded resources into bespoke biomaterials, objects and environments that seamlessly merge functionality, artistry and circularity. Through reimagined design processes and architectural structures, Natural Material Studio is committed to shaping a more sustainable and interconnected world. With an experimental and future-focused approach, Natural Material Studio’s cross-disciplinary team works to explore new possibilities within the convergence of material science, artistic ingenuity and spatial design.
Natural Material Studio
October 25, 2022
Materials
Part of 2023
Part of 2024
Part of 2026
Other Exhibitions
Nosou is a contemporary Japanese design brand rooted in natural materials and traditional craftsmanship. Guided by the theme 'Time Makes Beauty,' they embrace natural aging in their products, as a form of beauty that deepens over time. Their first collection features lighting crafted from bamboo sourced in Kyoto. Inspired by Wabi–Sabi, each handcrafted piece develops its own character through years of use, becoming a unique object to be cherished. Light is adjusted by moving the fixture itself, offering a tactile and intuitive experience.
Nosou
January 30, 2026
Extremis is a Belgian design brand that creates “tools for togetherness.” Founded in 1994 by designer Dirk Wynants, the company develops innovative furniture that supports human interaction and brings people together. Extremis starts from behaviour rather than form, designing functional solutions that reduce friction and make shared moments effortless. The result is a collection of intelligent, versatile designs for outdoor and indoor spaces. Developed and engineered in Belgium, Extremis products combine necessity, durability and timeless design, creating long–lasting solutions for homes, workplaces and public spaces worldwide.
Extremis
December 15, 2025
Foscarini imagines, develops, and produces decorative lighting that seduces, surprises, and inspires—by day and by night, whether illuminated or not. Since 1981, Foscarini has been a leading Italian presence on the international design scene, combining the dual heritage of Made in Italy: artisanal craftsmanship and industrial expertise. The brand creates lighting forms and projects with a strong, expressive identity, designed to make people feel at home both in private interiors and in shared, collective spaces.
Foscarini
April 7, 2022
Japan Creative is a non–profit organisation composed of members who are involved in the field of design and engaged in material research. When one traces the process by which everything is created, one finds that its origin lies in the materials.  As those who are involved in design in Japan, blessed with rich diversity of materials, Japan Creative focuses on the inherent backgrounds, characteristics and potential of materials themselves, reevaluating their value through a designer’s perspective. Japan Creative believes that only by understanding how materials are shaped by the unique natural environments and climates, and how they are situated, can it move beyond superficial expression and create designs with necessity and sustainability.
Japan Creative Association
January 31, 2026
×
MANU MATTERS
Check back soon!