About

HIRU studio is a homeware design and manufacturing brand created in Hong Kong by the Basque origin designer Imanol Urizar. HIRU aims to fight against the mass produced and unoriginal looking items society is purchasing nowadays. The intention is to slow down, observe and interact with the culture and heritage of the local communities. The brand is mainly inspired in eastern Asian cultures but will develop to receive influence from many more areas in the region. Putting together this societies traditionally key elements through a new perspective and reinvent them in more modern and up to date objects. This way, giving a hand to modern societies to reconnect with their ancestors and traditions. The materials that once used to be key in the objects around us, are now relegated to a second level and substituted by plastics that cannot give us the warmth and natural connection humans need. HIRU is focused on the use of more natural looking and feeling materials to put in contact the user with the natural environment, key elements are the wood and bamboo, fabrics, leather, bronze…

Imanol Urizar, known also by his photography projects as @be_kurious and the bekurious.com website is the product designer and creative director behind HIRU Studio. After several years travelling and living in Southeast Asia he stablished himself in Hong Kong where he develop a deeper interest for the local and regional visual and handcraft culture. His aim is to promote a different consumer attitude where we show a higher respect and love for the objects we surround ourselves with. With the brand HIRU the aim is to offer unique objects that reflect on traditional Asian crafts on future living environments.