Design Map · Eindhoven
Organic Gestures
Graduation project by Hayeon Kim at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
‘Organic Gestures’ is an unconventional furniture collection made from found wood and discarded cardboard that questions what we perceive as ‘organic’, moving the focus away from material choices towards dialogical ways of working with materials. Each piece begins with an irregularly shaped piece of wood. Designer Hayeon Kim follows the material’s gestures in an intuitive process of hands-on making, entering into a transformative material dialogue, within which pieces of wood are carved, cut or connected and colourful printed pieces of cardboard are applied to extend and enhance the wood’s shape. By combining two different materials, Hayeon Kim creates forms that take advantage of the combined materials’ properties. New gestures begin to emerge, guiding the process of becoming. Each of the collection’s seven pieces follows its own path of development, leading to unexpected forms. Function emerges through the process of making, as each shape gradually reveals what each piece can become.