Gabriel Tan Studio

Gabrial Tan Studio

Gabriel Tan moves with ease between cultures and disciplines, crafting objects that feel both time-honored and unmistakably new. After an early career in the Singapore Navy honed his precision and rigor, a serendipitous afternoon at the National Library of Singapore set his course. "I fell in love with design that day and eventually realised I wanted to be a designer. So, I decided to give up my navy career and enrolled at the National University of Singapore to study industrial design."

In 2016, he founded Gabriel Tan Studio, operating between Singapore and Porto—a transcontinental vantage point that infuses his work with Asian nuance and European sophistication. The studio’s practice spans furniture, lighting, and product design, as well as selective interior projects through Studio Antimatter. Tan also serves as creative director for Ariake and stewards the independent craft label Origin Made, championing makers and fine materials through contemporary form.

His collaborations extend to some of the world’s most respected houses, including B&B Italia, Herman Miller, Louis Poulsen, Duxiana, Design Within Reach, Schönbuch, Audo Copenhagen, Blå Station, and Abstracta. Acclaim has followed with distinction: the Industrial Designers Society of America’s IDEA Award, the Japan Good Design Award, and Singapore’s highest honor—the 2025 President*s Design Award for Designer of the Year.

Rumee marks Tan’s first collaboration with Louis Poulsen, a portable lamp conceived to carry the feeling of home from room to room. Its quietly charismatic presence and emotional clarity resonated widely, earning Tan the title of Designer of the Year 2025 from Louis Poulsen.

A sought-after voice in design, Tan has lectured at Lasalle College of the Arts, the National University of Singapore, the University of Oregon, and Pratt Institute, and has judged for the Cannes Lions Festival and the Core77 Design Awards. His philosophy remains human at its core: "The usefulness of a product is important, but equally so is its emotional form, which can touch people in intangible and profound ways."