Nathan Yong

Nathan Yong (Singapore 1971) gained recognition as a pioneer in Singapore's design landscape when he founded the design firm Air Division in 1999 with three friends. Air Division was the first company in Singapore to sell its furniture designs to high-end retailers. However, Yong's propensity for innovation began many years earlier, during his childhood. Growing up in a wooden hut by the sea with few materials available to play with forced Nathan Yong to build and invent his own toys using small "treasures" collected from the beach, and, even today, Yong designs his products based on easily sourced materials such as wood and steel. Yong holds a Master's degree in Design from the University of New South Wales. Today, in addition to running his own furniture label and consultancy, Yong also serves as Design Director for Grafunkt, a Singapore-based company. For his projects he has received several awards including: the Singapore President's Design Award for Designer of the Year in 2008 and the Red Dot Concept Design Award in both 2006 and 2007. His work has been frequently published in international design magazines including Case da Abitare, Wallpaper*, Monocle and Dwell.