dot-hzm is a Tokyo-based design studio founded in 2024 by Yu Kato and Aoi Kitsuki, who met as master’s students at Chiba University. They come from backgrounds in computer science and architecture and reinterpret craft from an open-minded software perspective, combining material research with digital fabrication to explore new possibilities of form.

In their representative work Kiyosumi Seigin, they approached ring-making—traditionally considered the domain of highly skilled artisans—not through forging or casting, but through a third method realized with silver clay and a self-developed 3D printer. By reinterpreting jewelry-making with contemporary tools and software, and by experimenting with new materials, they create forms and textures that retain a rich, human quality.

dot-hzm’s achievements include the Good Design New Hope Award, recognition as Super Creators by Japan’s METI, and exhibitions at Panasonic’s 100BANCH Nananana Festival.

dot-hzm places “Imperfect Computational Aesthetics” at the core of its practice.

They see machines not as instruments of efficiency, but as devices that continually reframe what aesthetics can mean. Their works embody weight and bodily presence. Rather than aiming for faithful reproduction, they intentionally collide precise algorithms with uncontrollable matter.

The distortion that arises from this collision becomes the expression of the work. The design is intentional, yet the outcome is always determined by the material itself—as the kiln teaches. Neither the hand alone nor the computer alone can achieve it.

dot-hzm seeks the “third beauty” that emerges at the intersection between precision and drift, between control and chance.