focus: student design

i really like these two seating systems from korean design student, duck young kong. he sent them to me, and although they're not yet available in america, i thought they were definitely worth sharing. i think it's so important to showcase and support the generation of young designers out there contributing such great ideas to the industry.

born in korea, duck young kong is a student at the cranbrook academy of art, getting an mfa in 3d design. his work shows a wonderful balance between form and function and creativity and practicality. his "my zone part 1" and "my zone part 2" pieces show a clear awareness of what is required from a client or user and how to infuse that with an artistic vision that brings both fun and function to the project.

both "my zone 1" and "my zone 2" play with the idea of personal space and the changing demands on seating situations. both systems allow for two people to either increase or decrease the amount of space between them, making each system ideal for both professional and personal use. "my zone part 1", the sliding chair system, seems ideal for an office/waiting room setting, allowing those in the waiting area to either sit close together (ie: perhaps a hospital setting where families want to sit close together) or further apart (ie: guests waiting who don't know each other). the second system has a bit more whimsy and would probably need to be slightly adapted for production, but i love its use of felt and the idea of creating a number of different sitting areas. it allows the user to determine any number of ways they would feel more comfortable using the system. seems like it would be cute for a school, child's room or something involving kids that might like little cubby corners to talk, read, play in. all in all, i think these two pieces show a ton of design smarts and the potential for a great career in 3d design. best of luck to duck young kong and many thanks for sending along your work!