Crafty duo take inspiration from Joseon era for modern furniture

Food & Travel

Published: 16 May. 2022, 14:40

Crafty duo take inspiration from Joseon era for modern furniture

Yangvan, a comany specialized in making traditionally Korean items more contemporary, introduces its rendition of a dining table called soban, widely used during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). [YANGVAN]

Creating new functions for a one-person dining table widely used centuries ago in Korea was the idea of the creative duo of a carpenter and an artist. The inspiration rose from a debate on how to pass down the past to the future, instead of leaving what's seen as traditional behind.

Carpenter Kim Seung-jik, who runs his hanok (traditional Korean house) construction and interior design company SJWood joined hands with installation artist and graphic designer Ahn Jong-woo. Kim, who has earned the title of daemoksu, which gives him a license to build government-commissioned large-sized hanok by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, said he wanted a piece of Korean furniture to be “just beautiful enough to purchase so that people can display it at home as a decorative object, or even maybe give a new function to it.”

“We don’t live in Joseon Dynasty now,” said Kim. “Unless you find a new way to use a traditional Korean item in your ordinary life, what’s flourished in the past will just vanish.”

Designer Ahn Jong-woo [AHN JOONG-WOO]

Kim's goal has been to make something with an everyday purpose from a traditional Korean item since he became the youngest daemoksu in 2008 when he was 24.

He ventured to build a hanok over the waters of the East Sea in Pohang, North Gyeongsang called Yeongildae in 2013, so that people could take great photos of the sunrise. He even tried making a Lego-like blocks and modules so that anyone could build their own small hanok to display at home.

To add a fresh perspective, Ahn, who studied industrial design at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and currently works as a graphic designer at fashion platform Sinsang Market, joined Kim. While he currently specializes in visualizing products through computers, he has always had a desire to gets his hands on real-life furniture.

For their first product, they decided to make their rendition of soban, a one-person dining table widely used from Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

“We wanted Korean heritage to be a more active part of people’s lives at home to keep it alive,” said Ahn.

The goal isn’t to have people actually use soban to put their food on it at home and know all the details of the history about it. Rather, it is to have the younger generation, or even foreigners who don’t know too much about the traditional Korean culture, see the design inspired by centuries ago as beautiful and desirable, so that it can claim its own spot and new function in their homes.

“If you think about it, you spend more time just looking at furniture at home than actually using it,” said Ahn. “The birth of a certain piece of furniture might have come out of necessity back in the days, but for the current generation, some just desire a small piece of furniture to be displayed as an object to look at even though it doesn’t really carry any practical function.”

Daemokjang, or head carpenter, Kim Seung-jik [KIM SEUNG-JIK]

Ahn and Kim established a brand called Yangvan last year, as a project they do on the side of their work, to make small objects. The name sounds similar to yangban, a word to indicate aristocrats from the Joseon era.

The first version of their soban was released in July, and they released two different wood versions, oak and walnut, last month. Only 50 sobans are available for sale per month, priced at 380,000 won each. Their rendition of soban is much smaller than the originals — it has a flat top that is 25 centimeters wide, 18 centimeters long and its legs are 15 centimeters tall. It fits maybe one tea cup and a small plate for snacks, different from the traditional style that fit multiple plates to allow for a meal for one.

The creative duo sat down with the Korea JoongAng Daily to talk more about their hopes for how they can bring Korean culture to the next generation.

A soban called Gangwonban [YANGVAN]

Q. Why did you decide to go with soban as your first product?

A. Kim: Soban seems to be one of the items people are well aware of, out of many small traditional wood furniture. And some Korean restaurants still use it. Also, it is small enough for people to easily think about having at home. There are many different design inspirations because each region of Korea has a different style. Collectors of traditional Korean cultural items often start with soban because of such varieties. The size of soban get bigger in Jeolla province, for example, as there are more banchan (assorted dishes to accompany rice and soup) to eat with each meal. Yet, the ones seen in Gangwon province are smaller and more simple and sometimes with some more patterns added on the legs. Basically, each soban represents different cultures developed in certain areas.

How did people use soban back in Joseon?

Kim: When a boy turned five years old, he was given his own soban. In Joseon, everyone had their own soban and you use that for life. It is also used even after their death during the ritual called jesa to commemorate the deceased. People usually used odong trees, (generally known as royal foxglove), as it is light yet sturdy, or ginko trees, as it has a unique smell that keeps bugs away, to make soban. We tried using both to make the very first release of soban last year.

A soban named Hojokban has legs that shapes like tigers' legs. Hojok in Korean means tigers' legs. [YANGVAN]

How did you figure out the design of the soban?

Ahn: We wanted it to be contemporary and beautiful. We tried to think hard about how to take [the bare minimum] from the traditional design. We needed to get rid of any functional design that was necessary back then but not anymore. For example, we got rid of the sticking-out edge around the top which was necessary back in the day to keep a long round-shaped brush from rolling around and falling to the floor. We wanted to make the soban as simple as possible.

Kim: We have two now in two different woods. One is called Gangwonban inspired by the soban with a simpler design widely used in Gangwon province, and the other is called Hojokban with curvy legs that look like tiger’s legs. (Hojok means tigers’ legs.)

A craftsman shapes a piece of wood to make a leg of a soban. [YANGVAN]

How did you come up with the name Yangvan?

Ahn: Back in Joseon, yangban were those who enjoy cultural activities and even develop them further. In this world, anyone can be yangban who enjoys a certain lifestyle of their choice, and we wanted people who enjoy making their lifestyle trendy to use our products. Maybe we can help the new yangban take some of the traditional items and find a new way to use them. Right now what we make may seem like something unique and special, but we want to create a world where traditional Korean items are just very common things to have. We wanted to be that bridge so that the current generation can take what they like from the past and find a good fit in their lives now.

Wooden legs to make soban, a dining table from Joseon era [YANGVAN]

Why is it important to keep on modifying the design?

Ahn: Before, we did everything sitting down on the floor. So the furniture people had at home used to be shorter. But now we sleep in a bed that’s higher up and sit on a chair to eat at a dining table. If we want to continue to employ some traditional Korean elements in everyday furniture, it is inevitable to make some modifications.

What other objects or furniture do you plan on making next?

Ahn: Since we made an object that may not have any functionality with our first product, we want to do something opposite with our second one. Maybe we will take a very practical, modern-day item and add design that’s obviously traditionally Korean to the eyes of the general public. With soban, we focused on making wooden products, but maybe we can collaborate with other craftsmen specialized in mother of pearl or steal.

BY LEE SUN-MIN [summerlee@joongang.co.kr]