Sempoa Rooj Zaum So by New Elegant Co., Ltd.

Sempoa Rooj Zaum So by New Elegant Co., Ltd. is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award Nyiaj in Tsim Rooj Tog Competition Category.

NyiajRooj Tog· 2025

Sempoa Rooj Zaum So

by New Elegant Co., Ltd.

Client: New Elegant Co., Ltd.

A' Design Award Nyiaj Winner in Rooj Tog Category

53,505

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #164649

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Sempoa Rooj Zaum So

Lub rooj zaum Sempoa muab kev tshoov siab qub txeeg qub teg sib xyaw nrog kev ua haujlwm niaj hnub. Tau txais kev tshoov siab los ntawm Japanese Soroban abacus, nws muaj lub nraub qaum nrog cov hlaws uas txav tau uas muab kev kov tes thiab cov txiaj ntsig zaws me ntsis. Cov hlaws no, muab tso rau ntawm cov pas hlau stainless steel thiab tuav los ntawm cov thav duab ntoo yooj yim khoov tau, txav nrog tus neeg siv lub cev. Tsim los ntawm cov ntoo boards uas sib tshuam, tus qauv tsim no sib npaug cov qauv zoo nkauj nrog kev ruaj khov, ua kom muaj kev stability, style, thiab caw kom neeg siv koom nrog.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Nyiaj

Sempoa Rooj Zaum So yog tus yeej ntawm A' Design Award Nyiaj, ib qho kev lees paub muaj meej mom heev tshaj li qub uas muab rau cov qauv tsim qib siab, zoo nkauj thiab ua rau neeg xav tsis thoob. Cov neeg yeej Nyiaj yog cov haujlwm ci ntsa iab heev thiab tsim tshiab heev uas qhia txog kev paub, kev txawj ntse thiab kev ntse ntawm cov kws tsim qauv. Sempoa Rooj Zaum So xav tias yuav yog ib qho haujlwm zoo kawg nkaus uas tsim rau qhia, tshaj lij heev thiab tsim tshiab tob. Cov qauv tsim yeej A' Design Award Nyiaj no yog ib qho khoom tsim uas pom tseeb heev thiab neeg qhuas uas pab tau thiab nthuav dav ciam teb ntawm kev kos duab, kev tshawb fawb, kev tsim qauv thiab thev naus laus zis. Sempoa Rooj Zaum So yog ib qho khoom tsim uas neeg coob xav tau, uas ua rau xav, coj kev xav zoo thiab ua rau xav tsis thoob thiab xav paub.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: For a long period of time, Abacus has been an important part of life of businessman, employees, even students. This simple yet useful hand operated tool becomes a symbol of hardworking people. In modern days, where digital calculator has been embedded inside our most important tool-smartphone, an abacus is slowly being forgotten. An idea emerges repurposing an abacus in our daily life as a reminder of our hard works while still physically functional giving relaxation massage sensation for the user.
Dimensions & Packaging: Width: 720 mm
Depth: 820 mm
Height: 800 mm
Seat Height: 440 mm
Seat Depth: 510 mm
Tags: Chair, Life, Work, Massage, Abacus, Wood, Joinery
Production Technology: The expectation to create the most favorite piece of furniture in our living room, build quality is the priority allowing the user to rely on it for decades. With that mindset, straight solid rubberwood is decided for its well-known balance between strength, lightweight and cost. The curved shapes are realized from a bentwood forming the backrest and seat frames that wraps around the user’s body. The large area of the seat allows the user to sit cross-legged, thus velvet fabric is chosen to give a gentle touch to the skin, maximizing comforts.
Design Challenge: From the beginning of research, blending an abacus in a piece of furniture, the inorganic shape of the abacus reduces the possibility of the chair shape exploration. As ergonomic is a crucial part in designing a chair, the shape cannot be too rigid but on the other hand it becomes irrelevant to the abacus if the chair is too organic. Second hurdle is finding the balance thickness of the bentwood rails of the abacus. It must be thin enough to flex, yet strong enough to support the user’s body while holding all the stainless-steel rods. The frame also required to have spaces for the rails to slide smoothly without affecting the overall rigidity.
Research: Creating a product that will be cherished by the user is the wish of all designers and producers. Providing a solution in the product that also connects to the user’s heart, the research focused on blending the historical elements of abacus as an aesthetic feature and a concrete function of the whole product. Thus, by reinventing abacus as a flexible backrest, not only it acts as a piece of art in the living room, but also provides a soothing massage effect for the user. It combines a cultural element with practical benefits, creating a chair that feels both familiar and innovative.
Inspiration: In this era, most of our daily activity is sitting. Either it is working, meeting, eating or even relaxing. Twelve hours on average sitting on the same spot happened to many people especially those who works from their home. Inspired by wooden massage lumbar support used by many taxi drivers in Vietnam, the idea is to implement wooden massage beads built into a lounge chair for people who works tirelessly and relax infinitely in front of screens all day long.
Project Duration: The project was designed and developed in Ho Chi Minh from August 2023 until August 2024.
Operation Flow: Crafting Sempoa chair focused on touches between users’ body and the edges of the beads. Knowing the fact that responses to sharp edges are different for every person, the rails of the abacus are made of flexible thin bentwood to be able to adapt to the user’s rear body shape. The stainless-steel rods act as the bones of the bentwood rails giving strength to support the user’s weight. Not only that, the abacus horizontal direction combined with the stainless steel rods, permit the beads to slide and spin freely, allowing the user to move around unbound while sitting.
Team Members: Director: Wei-Liang Chou
Designer: Aditya Cipta Sugandha
Image Credits: Aditya Cipta Sugandha, 2024.