From Wednesday, June 17 to Saturday, June 27, Layer Hanok Atelier in Bukchon presented the exhibition Objects of the Everyday, introducing works by three teams of artists—objects made to be kept close and used in daily life, from rings to planters to chairs. As its name suggests, Layer Hanok Atelier aims to layer a contemporary sensibility over the time held within the hanok.
Three teams took part: Be Formative, which makes furniture and products that combine function and sculptural form; Moonjung Jang, who presented 3D-printed soban tables and the hohyeong judeung, a traditional Korean lantern; and Il Studio, which crafts silver jewelry set with gemstones that carry the time of nature. What unites them is a shared impulse to reinterpret old things through today's sensibility.
Step through the hanok's gate and a vivid blue chair catches the eye. Made by Be Formative, it features triangular legs, true to its name—the Triangular Chair. Be Formative is a Seoul-based design studio formed by Yejin Kim and Kiyong Lee. Having explored materials and form with a focus on craft and experimentation under the name Craft Combine, the two have worked as Be Formative since 2020, designing products, lighting, furniture, and spaces while seeking a balance between craftsmanship and user experience.
In Be Formative's signature Square, Triangular, and Round chair series, elemental shapes seep into the form of the furniture, creating a clean, uncluttered impression that lends calm to a space. This exhibition featured the Triangular Chair, the Round Chair, and a new gray two-seater bench made especially for the occasion.
The Triangular Chair's interlocking triangular legs form a distinctive structure, while its seat height—low enough for both feet to rest on the floor—and the angle of its backrest make for a comfortable sit. Color is hand-painted onto birch plywood so the wood grain shows through, and the parts are joined with screws for easy maintenance. As Be Formative told Magazine C in an interview, they want to "make designs that feel natural and last a long time"—an attitude that weaves craft sensibility and practicality into every detail of the chair's structure and finish.
The lamps casting a soft glow throughout the space are the work of Moonjung Jang. Jang explores a range of craft techniques—firing and dyeing her 3D-printed pieces—drawing attention to the value of slow, time-intensive craft in a society that moves ever faster. For this exhibition she created hohyeong judeung, traditional Korean lanterns in eco-friendly materials with a distinct granular texture, made to sit naturally within the hanok. Also on view were a translucent 3D-printed stool and a translucent box made of corn-based filament.
Il Studio is a jewelry brand that began in Milan with an inquiry into metal. Its pieces are known for their singular forms—rings whose gemstones and silver balls can be swapped by twisting them on—and for stones in a range of hues, from chalcedony to white agate to opal.
The meeting of an old hanok and contemporary makers stirs sensations of strangeness and familiarity at once. Yet the two never feel at odds. Rather, the old time of the hanok takes on new life through today's objects, and the familiar objects of today reveal their forms all the more clearly in an unfamiliar space.
The objects made by the three teams likewise hold strangeness and familiarity together. Consider Il Studio's rings, which look ordinary at first glance yet let you swap out the stones; Be Formative's chairs, which turn elemental shapes—triangles and circles—into furniture; and Moonjung Jang's hohyeong judeung, which brings the contemporary technique of 3D printing to a traditional lantern.
In this exhibition, strangeness and familiarity surface in two ways: in the scene of hanok and contemporary craft meeting, and within each of the objects the three teams have made. Visitors feel it the moment they step inside, and again as they come face to face with each work. In this way, Objects of the Everyday shows past and present, the strange and the familiar, not competing but reflecting one another—proof that what is old and what is of today can coexist with ease.
