Zense Ansanm Tab ak Chèz by Louis Wai Yin Hung

Zense Ansanm Tab ak Chèz by Louis Wai Yin Hung is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award Lò in Dezayn Mèb Competition Category.

LòMèb· 2025

Zense Ansanm Tab ak Chèz

by Louis Wai Yin Hung

Client: Iterative Studio

A' Design Award Lò Winner in Mèb 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 Ansanm Tab ak Chèz

Zense se yon tab transfòmatè ki melanje atizana tradisyonèl Chinwa ak fonksyonalite kontanporen. Desen li fè pwosesis transfòmasyon an tounen yon ak ritiyèl, li angaje tout 5 sans itilizatè a pou l ka chanje fasilman ant sifas kaligrafi ak platfòm seremoni te. Pyès la fèt ak men, li chèche rive jwenn yon fines bwa san parèy atravè teknik mèt atizan, li baze sèlman sou teknik asanblaj bwa tradisyonèl, san okenn konpozan an metal.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Lò

Zense Ansanm Tab ak Chèz se yon ganyan A' Design Award Lò, yon rekonesans imans prestijye yo bay design premye klas, mèvèye e eksepsyonèl. Ganyan Lò yo se kreyasyon ki trè inovatè, vizyonè e ki briye ak bèl bagay, ki reflete jeni, sajès ak mèt konpetans designer yo. Yo atann Zense Ansanm Tab ak Chèz pou se yon envansyon ki fè anpil lwanj, ki bay tandans e monimantal ki delivre yon valè san parèy. Design sa a ki ganyen A' Design Award Lò se yon pwojè espektakilè, respekte ki pote anpil benefis e ki pouse limit atizay, syans, design ak teknoloji. Zense Ansanm Tab ak Chèz kreye santiman dezi ki entans, li reveye pasyon, li ankouraje kreyativite e li fasine nou.

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.