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BUZAO

BUZAO is a Chinese experimental design studio and label, founded in 2017 in Guangzhou as an independent brand — having previously been a product line within the established Guangzhou design label BENTU. The impetus for independence came from the recognition that the conceptual potential of the approach required its own, more radical theoretical framework. The studio has operated independently since 2019 under designer Peng Zeng. The name "BUZAO" means literally "I don't know" in Chinese — a programmatic commitment to uncertainty as a design method. At the same time, the studio interprets the term as "not create": the founding thesis holds that design is not creation but discovery — the uncovering of materials' and processes' inherent properties.

Philosophy and material approach: BUZAO deliberately works with unusual materials — both in their raw state and in industrially processed form. The interest lies in the interplay between form, light and spatial effect, and the design methodology integrates the unpredictability of the artistic process. Since 2017 collections have emerged employing volcanic rock (first series, 2017), concrete, terrazzo, electroplated stainless steel and iridescent blue tinted glass (Hot and Null collections, 2018 — presented at Design Shanghai 2019), marble in pixelated segmentation (PIXEL series) and offset-structured texture (DISLOCATION series). The installation NOT CREATE, ALL CREATE toured China, Australia, France and Germany from 2019 onwards. BUZAO also collaborates with BENTU on light objects in lava stone and marble.

For architects, interior designers and curators with interest in conceptually grounded Chinese design positions beyond industrial mass production, BUZAO is the most relevant experimental voice from the Pearl River Delta — with a material approach that consistently undermines Western categories of "art object" and "furniture".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUZAO

BUZAO is a Chinese experimental design studio and label, founded in 2017 in Guangzhou as an independent brand — having previously been a product line within the established Guangzhou design label BENTU. The impetus for independence came from the recognition that the conceptual potential of the approach required its own, more radical theoretical framework. The studio has operated independently since 2019 under designer Peng Zeng. The name "BUZAO" means literally "I don't know" in Chinese — a programmatic commitment to uncertainty as a design method. At the same time, the studio interprets the term as "not create": the founding thesis holds that design is not creation but discovery — the uncovering of materials' and processes' inherent properties.

Philosophy and material approach: BUZAO deliberately works with unusual materials — both in their raw state and in industrially processed form. The interest lies in the interplay between form, light and spatial effect, and the design methodology integrates the unpredictability of the artistic process. Since 2017 collections have emerged employing volcanic rock (first series, 2017), concrete, terrazzo, electroplated stainless steel and iridescent blue tinted glass (Hot and Null collections, 2018 — presented at Design Shanghai 2019), marble in pixelated segmentation (PIXEL series) and offset-structured texture (DISLOCATION series). The installation NOT CREATE, ALL CREATE toured China, Australia, France and Germany from 2019 onwards. BUZAO also collaborates with BENTU on light objects in lava stone and marble.

For architects, interior designers and curators with interest in conceptually grounded Chinese design positions beyond industrial mass production, BUZAO is the most relevant experimental voice from the Pearl River Delta — with a material approach that consistently undermines Western categories of "art object" and "furniture".