Today we’d like to introduce you to David Hwang
Hi David, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved to Los Angeles from Vancouver, Canada to pursue my college education after I graduated highschool. I decided to attend ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena to learn about product design. I had just found out that the whole field existed, one that designs our everyday objects. I had never thought about it – this was an incredible realization. Once at school, I found myself a little frustrated that the projects we did as a student were just concepts, meaning not a functional but a more display model. I wanted to design something that I could actually use and make for real. During this time, I discovered a whole new genre of design: furniture design. In these classes, you are building a full-scale model with real material, that ultimately is a true product that you can use on a daily basis and even sell! This got me truly excited and was one of the moments when I felt I had found my home. Although it was certainly not always smooth sailing, things finally fell into place. I have been extremely lucky to have showcased some of my furniture designs at shows such as SaloneSatellite and ICFF, which had been my dream the moment I decided to pursue furniture design.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Having studied industrial design, where the things we designed could fit into our hands and not have to be functional, model making was all about aesthetics; still, it left a little empty space in my mind. Moving over to furniture design meant I needed to consider real material, real structures, real dimensions and of course the aesthetics. I was beginning to learn to work with materials I had never worked with such as metal, glass and more. Each material means you have to find a unique way of working with it, as they all react differently, but this is also what I love so much about furniture design. These materials are not just there for aesthetics. People will put their bodies up against it, feel it and hold on to it for years. It becomes highly personal, and that’s the beauty of it. I fell in love with this design field.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Design for me is an outlet that unites my curiosity and my experimentation to create a new reality. My senses are very much heightened when an object is encased in a material that makes my head tingle. This is the experience I want to have in my own practice. The material we use speaks so much, sometimes more than the form itself. It makes us intrigued, and this is essential in design for me. I am happy with what the CURV series has become. I was so intrigued in the way reeded glass played with the object behind it. It deforms and blurs objects in such an elegant way that not many textured glasses can. The base design extends and enhances the reeded glass to make beautiful yet elegant imagery. From far, it is a quiet silver anodized coffee table, yet as you get closer, the table opens up to become this golden sculpture that becomes the centerpiece of your living room in a subtle way. My designed pieces are exactly what you think they are. If you want to stack them and turn them into a shelf, then it is a shelf; if you want to use it as a stool, then it’s a stool. It’s simple to understand.
What matters most to you?
The world is becoming increasingly digital. We are more scared to touch things. The ability to touch, see and feel — ultimately to fully experience something in real life — is such an incredible opportunity, yet sometimes we forget how amazing it truly is. If anything, I want my design to inspire people to be more present and to feel deeply connected to the now, by making them want to interact with the physical world, so they can fully appreciate their lives where they truly are, in relation to the tactile world around them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://davidhwang.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sjdhwang
Image Credits
CURV / coffee tables are shot by Elizabeth Carababas.
https://elizabethcarababas.com/
David Hwang
