Trained in architecture, Adam Nathaniel Furman (he/him) is an internationally recognised artist and designer based in London, working across public art, architecture, furniture, publishing and product design.

“a master of surface and ornamentation”

Metropolis

His work is held in the permanent collections of the Design Museum (London), the Sir John Soane’s Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Museum of Norway, and the Architectural Association, amongst others.

Furman works across scales, from objects and furniture to train stations, public squares, lobbies, infrastructure, façades and immersive environments. A unique voice in contemporary architecture and design, he turns functional spaces into vibrant, inclusive landmarks, blending delight with rigour and tradition with innovation. Collaborating with clients such as British Land, Kew Gardens, BGRE, Moda Living, Argent, Mitsubishi Estate, Somerset House, ITV and Canary Wharf Group, he delivers distinctive designs, monumental sculpture and integrated architectural art that act as powerful anchors for brands, places and local identity.

Across these different scales, Furman’s work examines how colour, craft, ornament and historical reference operate as carriers of cultural meaning, and how architecture and design participate in the construction of identity, memory and belonging.

“[Adam’s] own relationship with architecture has always been an act of visual resistance.”

Diego Parrado, El País

His practice bridges high-level commercial strategy with British Arts & Crafts tradition, prioritising rigorous manufacturing and material quality to elevate quotidian environments. By utilising durable, bespoke materials – such as architectural ceramics – Furman creates high-craft interventions that bring distinctiveness and identity to the spaces they inhabit.

He co-founded the influential Saturated Space research group on colour in architecture and urbanism at the Architectural Association and directed it for 11 years. He also founded the Productive Exuberance studio at Central Saint Martins. He is the co-author of several acclaimed books on architecture, design and visual culture, including the award-winning Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQIA+ Places and Stories, Postmodernism: Architecture that Changed Our World, and Revisiting Postmodernism (all RIBA Publishing).

In Chromatic Architecture: The Craft of Colour in Design, published September 2026, he and Kate Mazade explore how crafted, integral colour has defined buildings of collective importance across the ages.

In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects for his services to architecture.

Other awards:

Recipient of the Thomas Schroth Memorial Visiting Lectureship, Kent State University 2026

Croydon Colonnade wins Worshipful Company of Tylers & Bricklayers Triennial Award 2024

Croydon Colonnade wins Tile Association Award for Best Large Project 2024

Croydon Colonnade one of the Observer/Guardian's five best projects of 2023

Booklaunch Architectural Reference Book of the Year Award 2023

Architectural Book of the Year Award Winner 2023

One of the Mayor of London's Architecture and Urbanism (A+U) framework practices 2023-2027

Kings Cross Artist in Residence 2021

FX Product Designer of the Year Award 2019

One of Icon Magazine’s “100 talents of 2018-19”

Blueprint Award for Best Small Project 2018

Progress 1000, one of the Evening Standard’s “most Influential Londoners of 2018”

Elle Decor Italia “New Talent for 2018”

Metropolis Magazine “New Talent” 2017

One of the Observer’s four “Rising Stars” of 2017

L’Uomo Vogue Italia “Design Star” 2016

Architecture Foundation “New Architect” 2016

UK Rome Prize for Architecture 2014-15

Blueprint Award for Design Innovation 2014

Design Museum Designer In Residence 2013-14

Architectural Association Prize 2007

Royal Institute of British Architects Bronze Commendation 2005