Dr. Nanci Takeyama has received her Bachelor degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from São Paulo University, Master of Design from Kyushu University and Ph.D. in Design Research from the Kobe Design University. In her commercial career she has worked at very prestigious design studios, she owned her own design office with major corporate clients and her design works have been featured in several international design magazines and books.
Nanci is the founding director of ‘design for’, a group engaged in utilizing scholarly research, to advocate cultural understanding and preservation by using design as a dialogue. Through this dialogue, ‘design for’ aims to translate, reinterpret, adapt, and try out new ideas and forms in traditional crafts for contemporary living.
By sharing cultural information ‘design for’ aims to promote ethical consumerism and sustainable living with partnering communities. In 2013 this project won a UNESCO Honorable Commendation for Educational Innovation.