nmbello studio

Nifemi Marcus-Bello @nmbello1 @nmbello_studio will present the 2026 Knoll Lecture on Design @knoll @cranbrookindustrialdesign on April 28, at 6PM in DeSalle Auditorium @cranbrook_art Nifemi Marcus-Bello is a designer whose practice bridges commercial and artistic disciplines. His work embodies a philosophy that values intuition, resourcefulness, and deep engagement with context. As a designer, Nifemi’s strength lies in the exploitation of materials and his fearlessness to pursue new forms and typologies to create truly unique products and experiences. His work and design contributions are held by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Design Museum London, and many more. Poster (slide 1) by @azwawmedkour

Listening Room Speaker at @contributions.design with @la.boite.concept @colorsxstudios @_rodrigo_amarante @verso_works October 2025 at @unionjeunesseinternationale 📸 @pauline_chardin

Tebur for Chalet Africa Process and ideation. #nmbellostudio

Material Affirmations - ORÍKÌ Acts I-III A 3 year investigation and dialogue around material identity by @nmbello1 presented between 2023 and 2025 with @marta.losangeles Now showing and presented at @tiwanicontemporary Lagos till 10th of January, 2026 📸 @erik.benjamins

Patta Store Design. Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2023.

SELAH LAMP 2.0 NOW AVAILABLE VIA LINK IN THE BIO. Since launching the Selah Lamp independently, the studio has gone to sell over 150 lamps. Last year we took a step back and revisited the design with @calip.er to see how we could improve the function and experience of using the lamp. With a Design for Assembly approach, the latest version of the lamp is flatpack and can be assembled using an allen key making it easy to transport when we all need to move from one space to another. Limited to only 25 pieces this year via calipers programme, the Selah lamp is now available via link in the bio with worldwide shipping.

Kishi Marble Table for @cb2 . The Kishi dining table is a flatpack marble dining table designed as a kit of parts with long lasting use in mind. The straightforward silhouette and bullnose edges keep all eyes on the dramatic expanse of bright white and smoky gray veining, this design approach was taken with the idea that with a simple and classic form, the table can be passed down from one generation to another. Now available worldwide via @cb2

Maria sat on a “Low Intro Chair “ next to an LM Stool for the Financial Times. @fullerton_eliz (Elizabeth Fullerton) 2022, All Eyes on Lagos: an artistic homecoming, Financial Times (@financialtimes ) Image by Daniel Obasi @danielobasistudios

Film Premier on @nowness (LINK IN BIO) A short documentary ‘Context in Design, Design in Context’ takes a deep dive into Sharjah’s rich history of weaving that parallels West African bamboo weaving techniques in a meditative journey of creation Initiated as a way of archiving the manufacture of indigenous design solutions, the short film documents the pavilion as a line drawn between two culturally distinct regions, each applying time-honored knowledge to construct new contemporary design languages. Again, thank you so much to @sharjaharchitecture , @tosin.oshinowo and my partner in crime on this @pink_hard . Creative Direction and Writing - @nmbello1 Filmed and Directed - @pink_hard Executive Produced - @sharjaharchitecture @nmbello_studio @wflsncrm Producers - @emily_awino @jai.ye.ola @tamarabarrage

Sharjah Architecture Triennial, 2023 CONTEXT IN DESIGN, DESIGN IN CONTEXT. Context in Design, Design in Context”, leans on the approach of contextual design within the long term research project, Africa - A Designer’s Utopia (AADU) a project that looks into and archiving the design and manufacturing of indigenous contemporary design solutions and products in major West African cities. Looking into these typologies and solutions within the archive, findings are used to explore new contemporary design languages that are inherently contextual to behavior, spaces, people, material and history. To elaborate this further, “Context in Design, Design in Context” takes an existing solution, the Waf kiosk and replicates the same typology within the context of Sharjah, posing the question of design conditions in both Lagos and Sharjah. This exercise has allowed a dialogue between the cities, while allowing this production process of the pavilion act as a deep dive into Sharjah’s rich history of gargour weaving (used to make fishing baskets) in time for the Sharjah Architecture Triennale, 2023. At the start of every calendar month the pavilion will change arrangements to reveal modularity in both form and experience. A huge thank you to @sharjaharchitecture AADU images are made possible by @grahamfoundation Sharjah Architecture Triennial is now open till March 2024.

Since its launch, we have been huge fans of the ISPA team @teamteamteamteamteamteamteam a division of @nike that pushes the boundaries of material, functionality, and form, with an incredibly open-source process via discussions and activations. This year the ISPA team launched the ISPA Universal, an innovative clog made out of Bio-EVA foam with a cork insole. @nmbello_studio was asked to select friends and colleagues who we believe are contributing creative change and impact to the landscape of Lagos. With each recipient we share a word of encouragement with a hand-drawn nsidibi symbol of congress and community. ❤️ Thank you to the ISPA team. And to our friends and colleagues, we see you, we hear you and we are inspired. Thank you.

From a contemporary viewpoint, a good number of West African cities have a vast array of indigenous products that create socioeconomic solutions. These products are a necessity towards the daily function of the city and in most cases, are designed and crafted around readily available materials and craftsmanship (be it a kit of parts or manufacturing) with these products also cementing themselves into the landscape of cities and in some cases, countries. The purpose of this project is to investigate the ecosystem around these products and understand the impact urban planning has on how communities come together to design, create, build and distribute products through their network. The research aims to focus on demonstrating how ingenuity, indigenous open source design thinking is used to create and cater to stakeholders across a unique supply chain, highlighting how a design revolution continues to happen in Africa, without the “design” label attached to it. Pictured above is Mairuwa, a cart used to transport water in 25 Liter plastic Kegs from one suburb to another in Lagos, Nigeria. This ongoing research is made possible with a research grant from @grahamfoundation Africa - A Designer’s Utopia (AADU) is an ongoing research project by Nifemi Marcus-Bello and @nmbello_studio that's looking into anonymously designing objects on the continent. Lagos Chapter Documentation Team Lead Researcher and Creative Direction - nmbello Studio Art Director - Logo “Logor” Oluwamuyiwa Photographer - Benson Ibeabuchi Assistant Photographer - Henry Okwuabsi Project Manager - Silas Mahanan #AADU