during seoul design festival 09 a number of emerging korean furniture designers exhibited their work at the COEX conference centre, including park su jin, lee sam woong and hwang hung shin.

d-construction2, hwang hung shin image © designboom

buildings have life cycles which can last anywhere from a few years to several decades or longer. hwang hung shin‘s ‘d-construction2’ furniture focuses on utilizing the industrial waste which is a result of demolishing or deconstructing a building. here, he recycles the demolished concrete and shift its value by reusing it to create furniture.

seoul design festival 09: furniture d-construction2, hwang hung shin image © designboomseoul design festival 09: furniture chair and table from ‘illusion’ series, park su jin image © designboom

park su jin’s ‘illusion’ series represents furniture within the nonexistent space of a mirror. parts are ‘mirrored’ through a frame, developing an extension of the furniture pieces – a kind of ‘real’ illusory reflection.

seoul design festival 09: furniture detail of the furniture reflections through the ‘mirrors’ image © designboom

seoul design festival 09: furniture stick series, lee sam woong image © designboom

lee sam woong‘s stick series derives its name from the materials and construction of the pieces. a collection of seating designs are built up from small pieces of wood – ‘sticks’- which are arranged in such a way to create volume and presence.