As part of his Preserved exhibition at the Royal Society of Arts, Omid Jahankhani had a conversation with our in-house Curator, Laure Barthelemy, about the process and inspiration behind his works.
Preserved was on display in the Royal Society of Arts’ Coffee House and Library from November 2025 to February 2026.
How did you first get involved in the design world and where does your interest in design come from?
I’ve always been curious abouts things and objects. In hindsight, now that I think back to when I was little, I used to build my own toys from bits and pieces around the house. This developed into me carefully opening gadgets and devices to repair them myself, trying my best to keep my things usable for as long as possible. I was being resourceful without thinking about it. For me that’s a key characteristic for a designer. Academically, I was strong but excelled more in practical skills. I even used to practise jewellery making for a while. I was simply fascinated by how everything was made, and still am! Falling into Product and Furniture Design at Chelsea UAL was where I started to focus on developing my current practice.
How do you choose materials to work with and how do you source them?
It’s usually quite spontaneous. When it comes to my woodwork, I’m naturally attracted to imperfect material as it’s the most authentic version of wood; weathered, warped, knotty, split. The final piece will always have a greater depth of context. I have a handful of timber yards I loyally return to and often search for hours looking for forgotten pieces. I almost always visualise the final outcome when I find the right piece or pieces. It’s an unorthodox sourcing method but a very honest one as nothing is forced into existence.
Who are designers or works that have inspired you?
One designer would be Willy Guhl for his strange yet simplified way of seeing materials. The Loop Chair being a great example of that. From what I understand, fundamentally, he came about making the Loop Chair to challenge standard forms and ask questions of why our furniture is the shape it is.
Enzo Mari, Wendell Castle, Isamu Noguchi are a few others whose works I enjoy. Saying that, I’m more attracted to philosophies of designers rather than their physical works. The reason being I believe to innovate and evolve from our predecessors, we have to detach from the aesthetics so we don’t box ourselves in and repeat. If we become inspired by writing for example, we don’t place limits on what’s possible and start to think more freely. As much as I have a long list of designers I respect, my works are almost always based off of primary experience.
I’m naturally attracted to imperfect material as it’s the most authentic version of wood; weathered, warped, knotty, split, the final piece will always have a greater depth of context.
Do you find your bi-cultural background comes up in your work? If yes, how so?
Yes, I’d say it influences me subconsciously. Growing up I was surrounded by Persian art and objects; immensely soulful items that carry the skill of makers and told stories in a single snapshot. Persian history holds deep understated intelligence that we all live by and utilise now without knowing. As my practice matures, I’d like to have many works in my archive that hold these values.
You work with wood but also with concrete, how is it navigating these two very different surfaces?
They are opposing materials in many ways. Wood is a warm material which I work with in a more linear way – straight cuts, carving and texturizing. I feel concrete is far more versatile and very underutilised, maybe even misunderstood. With cement I almost work in reverse. Most of the work goes into creating the master for the moulds that will later pop out the object, whereas wood work is hands on from the start with the final material. I often find myself carving stone or modelling clay to then create concrete objects. Knowing how to work with the two materials is becoming invaluable as it opens up my options for production. They also complement each other since they’re so opposing, something that I’m exploring more now.
If we slowly transition away from the perception that every surface in our homes and spaces has to be smooth to perfection, half of the sustainability issue would be solved.
What is the relationship between nature and design that you examine in your work?
That relationship is a constant element in my practice. Overall, it’s about being observant, allowing resources and materials to display their natural beauty, and as a designer simply enhancing that. Complementing each other is where real unique works are born as each piece becomes unrepeatable with a portion of the work being conducted outside my control. For me, it’s when we try to control every element that the final outcome falls short of expectation.
In your opinion, what is the role of designers regarding sustainability?
I think as designers we do have a responsibility to be ‘sustainable’ but not in the way that is currently viewed as sustainable. I believe true sustainability is about utilising native resource and optimising it. For me, most sustainability issues lie within logistics and over processing of materials. If we slowly transition away from the perception that every surface in our homes and spaces has to be smooth to perfection, half of the sustainability issue would be solved. In other words, this hunt for perfection is what I believe is strongly contributing to unsustainability.
Bookcase, Oak beam & pages
Can you elaborate on one of the objects in the show? Tell us about how it came about and its importance.
The warped bookcase is one of my newest works and one I thoroughly enjoyed creating. A few months prior to finding the length of solid oak that forms the piece, I’d been playing around in the studio with this concept of a collection: merging man, processed wood, and wood in its most natural form – as seen with the Split Sculpture. I liked this contrast and kept the concept in mind until I’d found the opportunity to act on it. The 3-metre oak sleeper was weathered causing it to bow which in turn became a useless length in the eyes of industry standards. The bookcase function came about due to the idea of intentionality, only storing a handful of books that each play a role. In the end it created this very honest, raw piece which I’m looking forward to expanding on.
Omid Jahankhani is a British Iranian object and furniture designer based in London. Often putting materiality at the forefront of each project, his experimental style presents typically mundane materials in a new light. Insisting on a hands-on approach throughout the design process, Omid’s work frequently embraces imperfections to create objects with narrative.
