Created by South Korean designer Seung-Yong Song, Objet is a chair collection that doubles as a lamp, clothes hanger, shelf and ladder.
“The Objet collection began with my constant moving and living in a small house in Paris.” explained the designer. “A small window let me forget how it is cramped in a room which was full with a bed and a desk. Then I began to think about the pleasure and comfort from the space even though it was small and uncomfortable, rather than the materialistic coziness and comfort from the space and object.”
“In L’espace poétique (the poetic space) by Gaston Bachelard, there is the story about the Count who made a small space in the basement of his mansion and cooped up there,” added Song. “I would like to create such cozy space as the bird’s nest rather than huge mansion and the objects which make us feel the spiritual comfort and freedom from that space.”
Objet-E is a rocking chair with an intergrated clothes hanger.
“The unique name of things limit the range of product’s shape and function, but above all, the fact that there exists stereotyped function in accordance with each unique name suppresses my imagination,” said Song. “I am not willing to deny or destroy the identity based on the stereotype, but I only reinterpret the uses I need in my own design language.”
Part chair and ladder, Object-B can also be used as a bookshelf.
“I climb on a chair. I put books on a ladder. If things are freed from their own unique functions, we might agonize over how to use this objects,” stated Song.
Object-O takes the form of a chair with a large lantern overhead. Made from wire and traditional Korean hanji paper, the lantern can be folded down to create a private space reminiscent of blanket forts made by children.
“I have memories that I made a den somewhere in my house as a child – Under the table, in the wardrobe, and in the attic – I created my own base and felt relieved as if I avoided enemies that were actually non-existent,” said Song.
Objet-A is a chair that utilizes unused space with a bookshelf.
“I am looking in every nook and cranny of the room to find hidden spaces,” explained Song. “Under the table, beneath the bed, above the wardrobe … All the space in the room is completely full of odds and ends. There’s no other choice. And I start building my object like the city’s tallest building seen from the window in the room.”
