Zense Rooj Thiab Rooj Zaum by Louis Wai Yin Hung

Zense Rooj Thiab Rooj Zaum by Louis Wai Yin Hung is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award Kub in Tsim Rooj Tog Competition Category.

KubRooj Tog· 2025

Zense Rooj Thiab Rooj Zaum

by Louis Wai Yin Hung

Client: Iterative Studio

A' Design Award Kub Winner in Rooj Tog Category

1,749,872

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #171037

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Zense Rooj Thiab Rooj Zaum

Zense yog ib lub rooj hloov pauv tau uas muab cov txheej txheem kev ua hauj lwm Suav ib txwm muaj sib koom ua ke nrog kev ua hauj lwm niaj hnub nim no. Nws tus qauv tsim ua rau txoj kev hloov pauv mus ua ib qho kev ua koob tsheej, koom nrog tus neeg siv tag nrho 5 yam kev xav kom hloov tau zoo ntawm qhov chaw sau ntawv mus rau lub rooj ua koob tsheej tshuaj yej. Daim hauj lwm no yog ua tes num, nrhiav kom tau cov ntoo nyias uas tsis tau muaj dua los ntawm cov txheej txheem kws txawj ua tes num zoo heev, tso siab rau cov txheej txheem kev sib txuas ntoo ib txwm muaj xwb, tsis muaj tej yam khoom hlau li.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Kub

Zense Rooj Thiab Rooj Zaum yog tus yeej ntawm A' Design Award Kub, ib qho kev lees paub muaj meej mom heev uas muab rau cov qauv tsim qib ib, zoo kawg nkaus thiab tshwj xeeb. Cov neeg yeej Kub yog cov khoom tsim tshiab heev, pom deb heev thiab ci ntsa iab uas qhia txog kev txawj ntse, kev txawj thiab lub zog ntawm cov kws tsim qauv. Zense Rooj Thiab Rooj Zaum xav tias yuav yog ib qho kev tsim uas tau txais kev qhuas ntau, tsim kev nyiam tshiab thiab loj uas ua rau muaj nqi tsis tau muaj dua. Cov qauv tsim yeej A' Design Award Kub no yog ib qho haujlwm zoo kawg nkaus thiab muaj kev hwm uas pab tau ntau thiab nthuav dav ciam teb ntawm kev kos duab, kev tshawb fawb, kev tsim qauv thiab thev naus laus zis. Zense Rooj Thiab Rooj Zaum ua rau muaj kev xav tau heev, txhawb kev mob siab, txhawb kev tsim tshiab thiab ua rau peb xav tsis thoob.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties: Zense is both a furniture to ritual instrument. Its transforming structure—crafted from impossibly slender wood members—orchestrates tea ceremony and calligraphy while inscribing cultural memory into space. Every operational motion (wood sliding, joinery clicking) becomes ceremonial act of all 5 senses from touch, to sound; every use converts rooms into heritage vessels. The exoskeleton's artisanal precision enforces ritual deliberation, making tradition tactile through:
Dimensions & Packaging: 1300mm x 550mm x 720mm. Fully handcrafted with (screwless) traditional wooden joinery techniques. Weight distribution of structures optimised to minimise profile of structural members into 30mmx30mm solid wood.
Tags: Handcrafted, table, chair, set, upcycled, wood, traditional, joinery, asian, culture
Production Technology: Handcrafted by master artisans using traditional Chinese joinery, the furniture set is composed of 553 upcycled timber components, each meticulously shaped to optimize weight distribution—resulting in a slender yet perfectly balanced structure. Analog iterations refined proportions without digital intervention, ensuring harmony between form and function. Magnets were discreetly chiseled into wooden housings, as the assembly relies entirely on wood-on-wood joinery, eliminating metal fasteners. Even its construction embodies ritual, merging vernacular craftsmanship with intentional, meditative precision.
Design Challenge: This project faced the dual challenge of reviving ancient Chinese joinery while pushing wood’s structural limits to unprecedented thinness—all without modern engineering aids. nternally, we grappled with fading craftsmanship traditions. Material constraints demanded upcycled wood with unpredictable grain behavior, while the absence of metal fasteners required perfect joinery precision. Production hinged on master artisans capable of such handwork that relied on sensory intuition alone.
Research: This project pursued the minimal threshold dimensions of wooden members while retaining structural integrity, guided solely by craftsmen who discern strength through fingertips. Each slender element was refined not by engineering calculations, but through generations of tactile material intelligence. Practitioners tested these components, their ceremonial movements revealing where rigidity needed to yield to grace.
Inspiration: Zense transforms Asian heritage into lived experience. This kinetic table merges tea ceremony and calligraphy through masterful woodcraft—its slender exoskeleton achieving structural elegance while enforcing ritual deliberation. Every interaction engages the senses, making tradition tactile rather than symbolic. Through material intelligence and embodied use, Zense bridges past and future, turning cultural memory into tangible, sensory encounters.
Project Duration: The project started in 2018 and was exhibited most notably DesignInspire 2019 and SUPERDESIGN SHOW (Superstudio Pi - Via Tortona 27 - Milan) in 2022, amongst other venues in Hong Kong and China across 2022-2025.
Operation Flow: Zense begins as a serene writing surface, but with a simple lift, its wooden top rises and locks into place, transforming into a tea ceremony platform. There are no buttons or complicated mechanisms; just smooth, deliberate motions that mirror the care of traditional rituals themselves. This motion forces mindfulness, and addresses all 5 sense of the body. Every interaction—the weight of the moving parts, the satisfying click of alignment is designed to make the past feel present and purposeful.