Construction-centric furniture collection is among projects by University of the Arts London
A collection of wooden furniture that features colourful nuts to highlight its construction is among the projects by University of the Arts London (UAL).
Also featured is a reshapable cushion that “responds to the body” and a parametric steel shelving unit that can be personalised by the user.
University of the Arts London (UAL)
School: Chelsea College of Arts
Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutors: Jason Cleverly, Gareth Owen Lloyd, Mike Kann, Nadine Bennett, Denea Joseph, Adrienne Bennie, Tim Carson and Liz Ciokajlo
School statement:
“BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design at Chelsea College of Arts explores the relationships between people, objects and the world around us.
“The course brings together critical thinking, material experimentation and practical making, encouraging students to question how products and furniture are designed, produced, used and valued.
“Students explore three interconnected approaches to design: social, maker and production. Through research, experimentation and prototyping, they develop individual practices that respond to contemporary social, cultural and environmental challenges.
“Working with traditional craft processes, emerging technologies and digital fabrication, students investigate materials, methods and systems of production.
“Live projects and collaborations with external organisations connect their work to wider professional and public contexts. In their final year, students develop an independent body of work that reflects their interests, research and emerging identity as designers.
“The course supports a broad understanding of product and furniture design, from experimental and speculative approaches to socially engaged practice and design for manufacture.”
Evolving Bodily Traces by Xingtong Chen
“Evolving Bodily Traces explores how furniture can retain evidence of bodily interaction, challenging the idea that products should remain fixed and unchanged.
“Xingtong Chen has developed a participatory upholstered cushion that responds to the body and preserves the creases created through use.
“Made from waxed cotton, wool, coconut fibre and an internal aluminium wire structure, the cushion can be shaped and reshaped through physical interaction.
“Rather than treating wear and deformation as imperfections, the project considers these traces as expressions of memory, intimacy and personalisation, allowing users to participate in the continuing evolution of an object.”
Student: Xingtong Chen
Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor: Liz Ciokajlo
Email: chenxingtong1727175035[at]gmail.com
Unbridled Cracks by Harshit Chaudhary
“Unbridled Cracks explores how cracks, traditionally regarded as defects in ceramics, can become valued features of an object’s form and character.
“Working with terracotta, Harshit Chaudhary investigates how pressure, drying and material stress influence cracking.
“Through experiments with sodium silicate, surface treatments, digital fabrication and hand-building techniques, he developed a series of ceramic vessels, including a large-scale structure reaching 7.5 feet in height.
“Rather than concealing or repairing imperfections, the project embraces the unpredictable behaviour of clay, allowing cracks to become visible records of material transformation and the making process.”
Student: Harshit Chaudhary
Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor: Tim Carson
Email: harshit.chaudhary2414[at]gmail.com
Luoยท่ฝ by Yuying Chen
“Luoยท่ฝ is a bedside charging light that explores how everyday objects can help restore rhythm and ritual to our digital lives.
“Responding to habitual phone use before sleep, Yuying Chen draws on the Chinese tradition of measuring time through burning incense and the incense offering rituals of Chaoshan culture.
“When a phone is placed on its wireless charger, the light gradually fades over fifteen minutes, echoing the burning of an incense stick.
“Made from aluminium and maple wood, the design transforms the everyday act of charging a phone into a calming bedtime ritual, encouraging users to disconnect from screens and rest.”
Student: Yuying Chen
Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor: Gareth Owen Lloyd
Email: yuying.c0409[at]gmail.com
Parrot: Explore the City Through Dialogues by Yujing Shi
“Parrot is a wearable navigation device that explores how efficiency-driven technologies can weaken our connection with urban environments.
“Yujing Shi challenges conventional navigation systems that prioritise speed and direct routes, proposing an alternative based on exploration, observation and shared experiences.
“The device transforms journeys into sound routes, allowing users to navigate by listening to fragments of previous journeys left by others.
“Rather than directing users towards the quickest destination, Parrot encourages curiosity, spatial awareness and unexpected encounters, reimagining urban navigation as a collective experience shaped by the people moving through the city.”
Student: Yujing Shi
Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor: Gareth Owen Lloyd
Email: shi_yujing[at]outlook.com
Beyond Shelf Life by Noa Schongut
“Beyond Shelf Life is a parametric shelving system that allows users to design and personalise their own furniture.
“Developed by Noa Schongut, the project uses an online configurator, beyondshelflife.com, through which users select their aesthetic preferences to generate a unique steel shelf.
“Each design is translated into manufacturing files for laser cutting and folding, enabling local production, flat-pack transportation and straightforward assembly.
“By involving users directly in the design process, the project explores how personalisation and accessible manufacturing can create stronger relationships between people and their possessions, encouraging furniture to remain relevant and valued over time.”
Student: Noa Schongut
Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor: Gareth Owen Lloyd
Email: noaschongut[at]gmail.com
Timber Standard System by Phoebe Sanders
“Timber Standard System explores how traditional joinery principles can be adapted to accommodate irregular, reclaimed timber in contemporary furniture design.
“Using planks salvaged from a 200-year-old cemetery boundary tree, Phoebe Sanders has developed a modular leg system that uses metal components to clamp timber without screws or glue.
“The system responds to the natural variations and provenance of each piece of wood, rather than requiring materials to conform to standardised dimensions.
“Through an adjustable construction method and a bespoke stainless steel tightening tool, the project demonstrates how furniture design can work with the existing characteristics of materials rather than removing them.”
Student:ย Phoebe Sanders
Course:ย BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor:ย Liz Ciokajlo
Email:ย phoebesanders3[at]gmail.com
The Design Article by the Design Research Library
“The Design Article is a collection of critical writing exploring the ideas, questions and debates shaping contemporary design.
“From social and political issues to material culture and emerging practices, each article offers a personal perspective on the role of design in the world.
“Developed alongside their final projects, the writing reveals how research and critical enquiry inform the objects, materials and systems students create.
“Together, the articles form part of the Design Research Library, an evolving archive of student perspectives on design and its wider cultural significance.”
Group:ย Design Research Library
Course:ย BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor:ย Adrienne Bennie
Inscripted Love by Christina Kim
“Inscripted Love explores how everyday objects can become vessels for memory, devotion and emotional connection.
“Drawing on personal experiences of faith, family and remembrance, Christina Kim has created a domestic object that uses candlelight to reveal hidden inscriptions within porcelain.
“Handwritten Korean text is pressed into the clay, becoming visible through illumination and inviting moments of quiet reflection.
“Combining porcelain with a hand-turned wooden base, the project brings together traditional making techniques and personal storytelling.
“Through the simple ritual of lighting a candle, Inscripted Love transforms an ordinary domestic activity into an intimate experience of presence and remembrance.”
Student:ย Christina Kim
Course:ย BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor:ย Tim Carson
Email:ย christina.dj.kim[at]gmail.com
Screwssssss by Matteo Voisin
“Screwssssss is a furniture collection that challenges conventional approaches to joinery by making construction visible, understandable and accessible.
“Matteo Voisin has developed a system using threaded wooden dowels and oversized, brightly coloured hexagonal nuts as structural fasteners.
“Applied across five furniture pieces, including seating, shelving and lighting, the system replaces concealed joints with exposed connections that can be assembled, dismantled and repaired.
“Working primarily with European oak and 3D-printed polylactic acid (PLA) components, the collection explores how familiar hardware can become both a functional and visual language, inviting users to understand how their furniture is made and how it might be maintained.”
Student: Matteo Voisin
Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Tutor: Gareth Owen Lloyd
Email: voisinmatteo[at]gmail.com
