Design credit to the team: Tingting Chen, Xinyi Chen, Peaches Zheng. In this project, we learnt to use CNC machine with the intention to mass manufacture. Another lesson that we learnt was to design a manual of the product that was easy to understand for the users.
The Throne is cat bed that allows the cat owner to assemble himself/herself with favourite choice of pillow. The design encourages resting, playing, and hiding which are the daily activities of the cats.
This is the very first furniture that I designed and built myself!
I designed the V hypothetically for Fredericia, a Danish furniture company that aims to create modern, functional, and high quality furniture. To best suit my design within the company's aesthetic, I did a lot of research in regards of the company. One thing that I really respected was that the furniture by Fredericia was designed to withstand a lifetime of use and age gracefully. This really spoke to me, as how a nice piece of furniture could be handed down generation to generation and become a story.
I found myself so passionate in every stage of making the V - ideation, making a scaled sketch model, then a full size sketch model, the process of buying the wood, cutting the pieces, sanding, and finishing. Although there were obstacles of mis-cuts for the slots, miscalculating the wood needed, and tang oil never drying etc. I really enjoyed the process of failing and learning.
the Sihe Chair
Inclusive Design + Bariatric Sensitive:
The Sihe chair aims to play a crucial yet seamless role in hospital cafeteria setting for social life of the general public, differently-abled persons, and for persons with different body sizes. Sihe means in all directions, far and near/wide, the winds from all directions. Therefore the name emphasizes the concept of inclusiveness that I wanted to stress in this project.
Inspired by traditional Chinese furniture from Ming Dynasty and chairs by Josef Hoffmann, the Sihe chair fuses the traditional elements and the contemporary aesthetics together resulting in an inclusive, bariatric-friendly design that is suitable in most cafeteria setting where people eat and socialize.
Please see the booklet with more details about Sihe.
Rofa
“Built in 1967, the Students’ Union Building has been the living room of campus for 50 years.” Being the living room of the students, Rofa aims to create cozy, inviting seating for the fireplace located in the back stage of SUB.
Rofa is designed to encourage user interaction through motion. The natural position of Rofa creates a sense of balance. It invites people to break this sense of balance, to sit on it. It also allows the user to rest their feet comfortably on the surface around the fireplace. The stoppers limit the rocking motion therefore accommodating users from different ages and to offer maximum comfort in lounging position.
Please see the booklet with more details about Rofa.
Rúye
While I always admire how the line, the form, the proportion play together into a holistic design in traditional Chinese furniture, I intend to challenge the overall symmetrical impression of it. With different yet stylistically connected legs, the Rúye table breaks the symmetrical convention in most Chinese design. While taking inspiration from common proportion from traditional furniture and imageries like Chinese scrolls, bamboo, the Rúye represents itself as a Chinese inspired furniture in a unconventional way.
As a designer who consider myself culturally inspired, please see my journey in understanding Chinese furniture.