nendo designs three minimal variations of the traditionally ornate cuckoo clock

nendo reinterprets the traditional cuckoo clock with three different designs including one that rests upside-down on a titlted angle and another that doubles up as a bookend. detailed wooden carvings and hanging pendulums are replaced with simple white faces on light wooden blocks.

images courtesy of nendo

photos by akihiro yoshida.

the cuckoo clocks typical design is a pendulum-regulated clock that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo’s call. thought to date back to the 17th century its origins lie in germany’s black forest.

nendo reinterprets the 17th century design, splitting the dial into two parts for one model, allowing users to place books between its two parts. another flips the traditional design on its head, tilting it so that it rests on one side of its steeple-top. the third design places the clockface at the back of a recess which has been carved from the square block. the cuckoo bird appear from a small hole on the side of the clock.

the three models were created for japanese brand lemnos, a manufacturer of minimalist, modern clocks. nendo previously created a series of four unconventionally shaped hourglasses, carved from blocks of transparent acrylic.