Korean interior designer and architect Kim Paik-sun understands the beauty of simplicity.
"If it is empty, then it is full." This is how he encapsulated his approach in a recent interview with The Korea Herald.
Kim, 42, is a picture-perfect president. As head of his own design studio, he looks every bit the part.
But he doesn`t think so.
"I don`t think I have a knack for companies," the designer said.
Having completed over 20 projects, including the interior for a hotel in China and the design of the Alternative Space Loop in Seoul, that hardly seems to be the case.
Add to this his awards, including the 2007 KOSID Best Design Award, and Kim must be joking.
But he isn`t.
"I don`t plan on expanding my company. I don`t think it has significance. I want to work with a small staff."
Kim plans on sticking to his atelier-style studio. And it is precisely this commitment to simplicity that has led to his status in the Korean design community.
To understand his devotion to minimalism, one must start with Kim the artist.
Schooled in Oriental art, he had three solo exhibitions and about 30 group exhibitions before going into the field of design.
While Oriental art was his forte, Kim also enjoyed doing installations, and it was this initial relationship with space that would lead to his future in interior design.
"The first [solo] exhibition was Oriental art, but the second and third ones focused on installations and media-based works," he said. "While doing that, I began to gain an interest in interior design. I became interested in the real-life stories that spaces had to tell."
But he didn`t plan on becoming an interior designer. one thing simply led to another.
"Realistically speaking, I think what started out as a part-time job became my full-time career," he said.
After taking on a part-time job in interior design, he went on to doing it full-time before branching off and doing freelance work. And, as is often the case, after freelancing for a while, he eventually opened his own studio.
Now, seven years later, he sits in the press room at the 14th Seoul Living Design Fair where he is showcasing his own designs.
He has come a long way, but hasn`t lost his roots.
His sparse spaces, which artfully fuse traditional Korean architectural techniques and modern designs, have wowed the design world.
Kim`s long hallways, sliding walls and his ability to get a building`s exterior and interior to melt into one another reflect his Oriental aesthetic. That is what is so beautiful about his work.
When asked to explain how he manages to use empty space so skillfully, he arranges three paper cups on a table. He outlines the space in between the cups, and says, "This is what you need to design."
"This is gong," he adds, gesturing to the empty air in between the cups. Kim is referring to the Chinese character "gong," which means both "emptiness" and "space."
To explain the importance of designing around those empty spaces, Kim refers to the columns of the great Greek and Roman temples of antiquity. And, for a moment, simple Doric and flowery Corinthian columns spring to mind. It becomes clear that, while Kim`s intent is primarily Asian, the concept of designing the space in between is a universal one.
Not only does he focus on how to work with the space in between the objects in a room; he also tries to eliminate the barriers that divide interior and exterior spaces.
"There is no difference between the interior or exterior," he insists, referring to the work he did for the Seoul Living Design Fair. "Mine is the same all 360 degrees around It is not a differentiation of interior and exterior spaces, but a communication between the two."
And Kim is a master at creating seamless space. In one of his designs, a long wood and stone stairway leads directly outside so that the air passing through the stairway and the air outside are the same. In another building, all that separates the interior from the garden is a pane of clear glass. You feel like you can just reach out and touch the trees.
Looking at his works confirms that Kim is absolutely right when he says that his approach to design is "a state of heart."
By Jean Oh
(oh_jean@heraldm.com)
< 아이디어의 보물섬! 최신 아이디어 모여라! www.idea-club.com >
"If it is empty, then it is full." This is how he encapsulated his approach in a recent interview with The Korea Herald.
Kim, 42, is a picture-perfect president. As head of his own design studio, he looks every bit the part.
But he doesn`t think so.
"I don`t think I have a knack for companies," the designer said.
Having completed over 20 projects, including the interior for a hotel in China and the design of the Alternative Space Loop in Seoul, that hardly seems to be the case.
Add to this his awards, including the 2007 KOSID Best Design Award, and Kim must be joking.
But he isn`t.
"I don`t plan on expanding my company. I don`t think it has significance. I want to work with a small staff."
Kim plans on sticking to his atelier-style studio. And it is precisely this commitment to simplicity that has led to his status in the Korean design community.
To understand his devotion to minimalism, one must start with Kim the artist.
Schooled in Oriental art, he had three solo exhibitions and about 30 group exhibitions before going into the field of design.
While Oriental art was his forte, Kim also enjoyed doing installations, and it was this initial relationship with space that would lead to his future in interior design.
"The first [solo] exhibition was Oriental art, but the second and third ones focused on installations and media-based works," he said. "While doing that, I began to gain an interest in interior design. I became interested in the real-life stories that spaces had to tell."
But he didn`t plan on becoming an interior designer. one thing simply led to another.
"Realistically speaking, I think what started out as a part-time job became my full-time career," he said.
After taking on a part-time job in interior design, he went on to doing it full-time before branching off and doing freelance work. And, as is often the case, after freelancing for a while, he eventually opened his own studio.
Now, seven years later, he sits in the press room at the 14th Seoul Living Design Fair where he is showcasing his own designs.
He has come a long way, but hasn`t lost his roots.
His sparse spaces, which artfully fuse traditional Korean architectural techniques and modern designs, have wowed the design world.
Kim`s long hallways, sliding walls and his ability to get a building`s exterior and interior to melt into one another reflect his Oriental aesthetic. That is what is so beautiful about his work.
When asked to explain how he manages to use empty space so skillfully, he arranges three paper cups on a table. He outlines the space in between the cups, and says, "This is what you need to design."
"This is gong," he adds, gesturing to the empty air in between the cups. Kim is referring to the Chinese character "gong," which means both "emptiness" and "space."
To explain the importance of designing around those empty spaces, Kim refers to the columns of the great Greek and Roman temples of antiquity. And, for a moment, simple Doric and flowery Corinthian columns spring to mind. It becomes clear that, while Kim`s intent is primarily Asian, the concept of designing the space in between is a universal one.
Not only does he focus on how to work with the space in between the objects in a room; he also tries to eliminate the barriers that divide interior and exterior spaces.
"There is no difference between the interior or exterior," he insists, referring to the work he did for the Seoul Living Design Fair. "Mine is the same all 360 degrees around It is not a differentiation of interior and exterior spaces, but a communication between the two."
And Kim is a master at creating seamless space. In one of his designs, a long wood and stone stairway leads directly outside so that the air passing through the stairway and the air outside are the same. In another building, all that separates the interior from the garden is a pane of clear glass. You feel like you can just reach out and touch the trees.
Looking at his works confirms that Kim is absolutely right when he says that his approach to design is "a state of heart."
By Jean Oh
(oh_jean@heraldm.com)
< 아이디어의 보물섬! 최신 아이디어 모여라! www.idea-club.com >
'아이디어드림 > 아이디어거래소' 카테고리의 다른 글
| [기고]누구에게나 편한 도시 디자인제니카페<cafe.naver.com/writergeni> (0) | 2008.04.29 |
|---|---|
| MEXICO FASHION제니카페<cafe.naver.com/writergeni> (0) | 2008.04.29 |
| The good, bad and ugly of love제니카페<cafe.naver.com/writergeni> (0) | 2008.04.29 |
| 완성차 2사 `차별화 전략` 시동…기아차 "브랜드 경영"제니카페<cafe.naver.com/writergeni> (0) | 2008.04.29 |
| [Metro] 서울시, WDC 홈페이지 개설제니카페<cafe.naver.com/writergeni> (0) | 2008.04.29 |
기아자동차는 디자인의 중요성에 대한 공감대를 확산시키기 위해 21일부터 디자인 슬로건을 각종 사무용품과 문서 양식에 넣기로 했다고 17일 밝혔다.
"진정한 브랜드경영은 회사 안에서 시작된다"