construction materials inform beomseok chae's industrial furniture series

Nov 09, 2023

designer beomseok chae looks to steel beams and scaffolding for this construction-inspired collection of furniture. described as a ‘microscopic observation of architecture’, the objects are informed by the materials and processes that go into architecture rather than completed buildings themselves.

chae explains, ‘(the furniture) reminds us of the site of the construction process. a large steel beam rises at the construction site where soil dust blows, and the image of construction engineers carrying something comes to mind. these structures and elements in the construction site are very familiar to us, natural, and we face them several times a day, but we pass by them.’

001_beam stool (2021)

with this project, beomseok chae considers the relationship between furniture and architecture. both begin with a structure that is able to disperse a certain load, the only difference is the amount of load. the aesthetic details of the furniture are born from scaling down typical construction processes such as combining, intersecting, building, and connecting.

the final collection comprises four pieces: the beam stool, the scaffolding bench, the polycarbonate chair and the polycarbonate shelf. the stool utilizes the basic structure of a building in which two steel I beams support the weight of one person. the bench stool is made of steel beams with scaffolding, made of pipes and safety nets, wrapped around. finally, the chair and shelf are composed of double-layered polycarbonate plates with aluminum finishing on the joints connected by simple screws.

002_scaffolding bench (2021)

003-1_wall polycarbonate chair (2021)

003-2_wall polycarbonate stand shelf (2021)

detail of the double layer polycarbonate and aluminum finishing

THE [ CONSTRUCTION ] furniture series (2021)

project info:

name: THE [ CONSTRUCTION ] furniture series designer: beomseok chae

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edited by: lynne myers | designboom