Paris-based architect Nara Lee has unveiled her Pul collection of sculptural metal and leather furniture at The Sun Room exhibition in Seoul, South Korea.
Lee‘s Pul collection comprises chairs, benches and folding screens made from stainless-steel sheets and oversized leather straps, which have been stitched into oversized holes in the furniture.
The sculptural pieces have clean, geometric shapes, with chairs whose backs bend backwards and appear to be held together by the leather ties.
The Sun Room exhibition in Seoul showcased Nara Lee’s Pul collection. Photo by Namuk Kim
“Metal is structural yet flexible, while leather is soft yet strong,” Lee told Dezeen.
“I wanted to subvert the typical uses of these materials and highlight the relationship between nature and the man-made,” she continued.
“I’m also drawn to the way metal interacts with light, which in the end, ties perfectly to the exhibition’s title, The Sun Room.”
Benches, chairs and screens were on show
The architect, who has previously worked with brands such as Italian fashion house Prada, drew on the nature that envelops Seoul when creating the collection.
“While hiking the mountain behind my home in Korea this summer, I was struck by how wild nature lives right inside Seoul’s dense urban landscape,” she said.
“Something I could appreciate with a fresh eye after my time in Paris. That coexistence became the starting point for Pul, named after the Korean word for ‘grass’ in its broadest sense.”
The metal chairs have bending backs
The reference to grass can be seen in the chairs’ curved metal backrests, which move slightly when people use them and were designed to evoke “the resilience of living organisms,” the architect said.
The collection was shown at The Sun Room exhibition in Seoul, for which Lee collaborated with lighting studio Aklyphs, drawing on the concepts of greenhouses and solariums.
Crafting aluminium is “like silversmithing on steroids” says David Taylor
“I imagined the exhibition as a kind of greenhouse where natural and artificial worlds overlap, bridging what is living and what is constructed,” Lee explained.
“By shaping plant-like forms with processed materials, I wanted to bring attention to the tension, and the harmony, between organic growth and engineered structure.”
Leather straps appeared to hold the furniture together
While the pieces might look less comfortable than traditional padded chairs, Lee said they are “surprisingly comfortable” and were made to be functional as well as decorative.
“One of the comments I hear most often is that the pieces are much more comfortable than people expect,” the architect said.
The Sun Room was shown in Seoul’s Mirae Building. Photo by Namuk Kim
The opening day of The Sun Room exhibition at the Mirae Building in Seoul featured a performance by a dancer to further underline the relationship between the organic and the man-made.
The last few years have seen a number of designers working with metal to create sculptural furniture pieces.
In London, Henry Svendsen created the “kink-coded” Handle collection, while Scottish designer David Taylor unveiled an all-aluminium collection during Stockholm Design Week.
The material was also among the most popular at Milan design week last year, with mono-material metal designs taking centre stage during the event.
The photography is by Yongjoon Choi unless otherwise stated.
The Sun Room was on show at Mirae Building, Seoul, from 23 November to 7 December. For more global exhibitions, talks, and openings in architecture and design visit Dezeen Events Guide.
Project credits:
Artist: Nara Lee
Light: Aklyphs
Creative producer: Seoyoung Kim
Performance: Hyun Soo Yun, Jaesung Yoo, Hyeontaek Oh
Exhibition text: Seohu Ahn, Seoyoung Kim
Videography: Jiyong Kim
Photography: Namuk Kim
Graphic design: Gunjung Lee
PR: Artment.dep