Lanterns are talismanic in Chinese folklore. They are beacons that guide ancestral spirits, invite prosperity, and protect against malevolent forces. For Aaron and Irisa Chan-Kawabi, founders of New York studio Kawabi, they are also symbols of belonging.
Whenever the designers encountered these objects in the US, typically at Chinese restaurants or souvenir shops, they were the same symmetrical red or white design. ‘How does a typology move from one culture to another?' Aaron wondered. He and Irisa saw parallels to their own experience as part of the diaspora (Irisa was born in China and grew up in Massachusetts; Aaron was born in Brooklyn to parents who emigrated from Hong Kong) and began to contemplate what a lantern that represented their own experience might look like.
Bringing the conversation into the studio, the two began designing their own lanterns. Informed by one-dollar shades, as well as Japanese lantern-making techniques, the results were asymmetrical and irregular.
The pair met on their first day at Parsons School of Design. Irisa says they had a ‘friendly rivalry' while in school, which turned into a relationship after they graduated. They maintained separate practices (Irisa as a product designer, Aaron as a fabricator) before launching Kawabi in 2024.
Aaron and Irisa are cerebral designers who think through what they create, the work all done by hand in their studio. ‘It's personal, it's free-flowing, and a lot of the time we don't really understand what we're making until the very end when we have our own discussions and critiques about it,' Aaron says.
The first lamp they designed and made – the ‘Souvenir' lamp, a kozo paper lantern suspended in a wood frame – came out of necessity: they needed to furnish their home and couldn't find pieces they liked. So, they created a series of lamps referencing bonsai trees, legumes and folding screens.
The duo describe their lamps as cross-cultural relics that reflect their relationship and personal histories. ‘Before we started this studio, we used to obsess over lost stories,' says Irisa, adding that the passing of grandparents and the reluctance of living family members to talk about more difficult memories have led them to try and fill in the gaps through their design practice. For Aaron, whose half-Japanese grandfather was born in Canton during the Japanese occupation, using Japanese techniques is part of him creating a different relationship to that part of his heritage than his elders had.
Not being bound to tradition, yet still finding interest in it, has yielded unusual forms, like a walnut triptych embedded with paper lanterns, or ‘Amica', the studio's newest collection. A collaboration with ceramic artist Christopher Merchant, the latter explores the idea of welcoming a new material and another person's viewpoint into their work.
With each piece, Kawabi affirms an experience that will be familiar to diasporic Americans, yet remains underdiscussed. ‘For me, there's a great desire for reclamation inside America,' Irisa says. ‘Heritage is part of the story, but our home is here.'
This article appears in the August 2026 Issue of Wallpaper*, available now in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today