Kawabi is the New York–based studio practice of Aaron and Irisa Na-Chan Kawabi, a creative partnership born from their shared journey as artists, designers, and descendants of diaspora. Meeting at Parsons School of Design, where they both studied product design, their early collaborations evolved into a dedicated practice grounded in shared values: honoring cultural inheritance, exploring the meaning of home, and transforming craft into a language of belonging.
Guided by a deep spiritual and aesthetic connection to Eastern traditions, Kawabi’s work embraces the slow, intentional processes of traditional joinery and paper-making. Each piece is conceived as both a functional object and an emotional touchstone—imagined heirlooms that feel ancient yet new, rooted in a deeper history yet untethered from any single time or place. Their practice reflects a personal journey to create what they never inherited: design objects that evoke the warmth, familiarity, and presence of a long-lost home.
Working from their intimate Brooklyn studio near the Navy Yard, the pair moves fluidly between woodshop and craft space, allowing hand, mind, and body to remain in constant dialogue. Their process is tactile and immersive, informed by intuition, lived experience, and the belief that beauty and harmony in the home can foster peace and emotional attunement. Each creation—whether a paper lamp, a piece of furniture, or a finely crafted vessel—serves as an offering to daily life, embodying Kawabi’s vision of design as both art and quiet ritual.
