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| Idan Cohen (designer) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Idan Cohen |
| Occupation | Industrial designer, product designer |
Idan Cohen (designer) is an industrial and product designer known for work spanning furniture, lighting, and consumer electronics, with an emphasis on material research, fabrication techniques, and narrative-driven objects. Cohen's practice intersects studio-based craft, collaborative design research, and commercial product development, engaging with institutions, manufacturers, and cultural organizations. His work has been exhibited and published alongside designers, architects, and artists in venues across Europe, North America, and Asia.
Cohen was born in Tel Aviv and grew up amid the cultural scenes of Haifa and Jerusalem, where early exposure to craft workshops and museums informed his sensibility. He trained at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design before continuing studies at the Royal College of Art in London and attending short courses at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During his education he participated in exchanges with the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris and workshops hosted by the Victoria and Albert Museum, fostering connections with curators from the Design Museum, London and scholars at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Cohen's early career combined studio practice with roles in design studios and product teams at companies such as Muuto, HAY, and a consultancy affiliated with IDEO. He founded an eponymous studio that collaborated with manufacturers including Flos, Nexa Lighting, B&B Italia, and boutique fabricators in Milan and Copenhagen. His commercial commissions ran parallel to experimental research projects undertaken with academic partners like the Royal College of Art and the Zurich University of the Arts. Cohen's practice has engaged with cultural institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Design Museum, London, the Centre Pompidou, and galleries in New York City and Berlin.
Cohen's philosophy merges formal minimalism with tactile materiality, drawing influence from figures and movements such as Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, Mies van der Rohe, and the Bauhaus tradition. He references contemporary peers and makers including Hella Jongerius, Jasper Morrison, Naoto Fukasawa, and Tom Dixon, while engaging theoretical frameworks from scholars at The Bartlett School of Architecture and the Royal College of Art. His approach prioritizes lifecycle thinking and craft techniques learned from artisans associated with Danish Modern workshops, the Isamu Noguchi studio, and traditional metalworkers in Matera and Murano. Cohen frequently cites exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and writings by critics at The New York Times and Domus as formative to his critical outlook.
Notable projects include a modular seating system developed for Salone del Mobile exhibitors, a lighting series produced with Flos that explored blown glass and 3D-printed diffusion, and a consumer electronics enclosure prototyped with engineers from ARM Holdings and suppliers in Shenzhen. His "Fold" furniture collection showed at London Design Festival and the Milan Design Week, while an experimental project investigating biodegradable composites was produced in partnership with researchers at Delft University of Technology and presented at the Vitra Design Museum. Cohen also led a public commission for urban seating and lighting in Tel Aviv with input from the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo and landscape architects connected to OMA.
Cohen has received accolades from organizations including the Red Dot Design Award, the iF Design Award, and the Compasso d'Oro shortlist; he was a recipient of grants from the Arts Council England and the Israel Lottery Council for Culture and Arts. He has been featured in year-end lists by Wallpaper*, Dezeen, and Architectural Digest, and his prototypes have been supported by residencies at institutions such as the Cité Internationale des Arts and the British Council Creative Economy program. Industry juries from Design Miami and the Museum of Arts and Design have recognized his cross-disciplinary contributions.
Cohen's work has been exhibited at museums and fairs including the V&A, the Centre Pompidou, Design Miami/ Basel, Salone del Mobile, and the London Design Biennale. He has collaborated with artists and collectives such as Ronan Bouroullec, Studio Swine, Formafantasma, and architectural practices including Heatherwick Studio and Snøhetta on site-specific installations and product ranges. Collaborative research projects have linked his studio to laboratories at MIT Media Lab and the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering for material innovation.
Cohen has taught studios and supervised postgraduate candidates at institutions such as the Royal College of Art, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Pratt Institute, and the Delft University of Technology, and has lectured at the Cooper Hewitt, the Design Museum, London, and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He mentors emerging designers through programs run by Design Council and the British Council and has juried awards for Design Indaba and the New Designers exhibition. His pedagogy emphasizes hands-on prototyping, collaboration with manufacturers, and critical writing—practices he promotes through workshops at the Werkraum Bregenzerwald and summer schools associated with Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design.
Category:Israeli designers Category:Industrial designers