Kuori

Victoria K Chan

See it On Campus: Level 2

Visitor Info

Van Gogh Designs Furniture + Wood Design Graduation Award — Winner

My family moved to many houses during my childhood. Each house we moved to had a different layout, but we kept the same routine; mum would stay at home taking care of the house, dad went out for work and my brother and I went to school.

Dinner time was when the four of us would gather around the dining table and talk about our different days. It was what I looked forward to because it was a simple routine that made a quiet moment in a life that was always shifting.

Lots of furniture shuffled around whenever we moved—some stayed and some were left behind. But the one piece that seemed to stick around, no matter what home, was a coffee table. It was the piece of furniture where we gathered around after meals, curled up to watch movies, and simply where we spent time together as four.

After my parents sudden separation, it wasn’t just the furniture that shifted—everything else did.

^{_{With just the three of us, the dining table felt even bigger and emptier when we sat around it, so we started eating at the coffee table instead. Through every move, we went through one coffee table after another; different tables, but the same home-cooked meals.}} ^{_{It was around those coffee tables that we shared laughter and joy, simple moments that drew us closer together.}}

One key ingredient my mum used in many of her home cooked meals was eggs. Whether they were stir-fried with tomatoes or whisked and steamed with green onions, the smell always brought me comfort—a sense of belonging in the right place, home.

Now, as life grows busier and I grow older, my mother’s cooking feels farther out of reach.

I took this opportunity with this project, to help me remember those nights I thought would last forever.

During my prototyping stages, I asked myself several times: Why? Sharing my story I felt that was full of blues and greys, I was worried for what I was getting myself into.

But I gave my story a chance, because my mother did; with a quiet strength that made me believe maybe I could too.

In my last few months of university, I had my push. Not just through my personal research, but through the community within the industrial design studio.

Sketches & Prototypes

Sketches

Prototypes

Many meals and late nights were spent with the 2nd prototype of Kuori.

With a couple of sticks and a frame, my past memories started coming to life again.

Remembering the egg as something I grew up eating, I chose to symbolize the features and design around it. The eggshell being the protective layer, the membrane ‘skin’ that holds everything in tact, and the yolk, symbolizing the innocence and fragility of childhood.

Because all egg yolks pop at some point—

I wanted Kuori to resemble the warm oranges that masked many blues during my childhood. I integrated a soft light into the centre of the table, to reflect those oranges I felt in the past—the sense of being at home.

I included side tables to increase surface space; the design is similar in shape to my old wooden cupboards I had growing up.

When I first started this project, I titled it, ‘A Conversation with Dad‘. It was meant to reflect on the memories I had with him, and to explore why I yearn to mend what felt broken. But I came to a realization that, I wasn’t ready to untangle something I didn’t fully understand.

***So I made three seats, to remind myself that it’s okay with just the three of us.***

“Sik Fan La” was what my mum would say to call us down for dinner. After we ate, she always reminded us to clean our bowls, not leaving a single grain of rice behind.