Sempoa Oche Ezumike by New Elegant Co., Ltd.

Sempoa Oche Ezumike by New Elegant Co., Ltd. is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha in Nhazi Ngwá Ụlọ Competition Category.

ỌlaọchaNgwá Ụlọ· 2025

Sempoa Oche Ezumike

by New Elegant Co., Ltd.

Client: New Elegant Co., Ltd.

Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha Winner in Ngwá Ụlọ Category

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The Design

About Sempoa Oche Ezumike

Oche Sempoa na-ejikọta mmụta omenala na arụmọrụ ọgbara ọhụrụ. Site n'ike mmụta e nwetara n'aka Soroban abacus nke Japan, ọ nwere azụ oche nwere mkpụrụ na-akpụgharị nke na-enye ma mmekọrịta site n'imetụ aka na mmetụta nke ịhịa aka n'ahụ dị nro. Mkpụrụ ndị a, nke etinyere n'osisi ígwè na-adịghị ata nchara ma jiri okpokolo osisi a gbagọrọ agbagọ nke na-agbanwe agbanwe jide, na-aga n'otu n'otu n'ahụ onye na-eji ya. E jiri mbọ osisi siri ike na-agafe agafe rụọ ya, nhazi a na-edozi nguzozi n'etiti ịma mma ahaziri ahazi na ike ịdịgide adịgide, na-eme ka o nwee nkwụsi ike, ụdịdị, ma na-akpọ mmekọrịta onye ojieme.

The Recognition

About the Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha

Sempoa Oche Ezumike meriri A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha, nnabata dị oke ugwu e nyere design ndị dị n'ọkwa kachasị elu, mara mma ma na-eju anya. Ndị meriri na Ọlaọcha bụ ọrụ na-egbu maramara nke ukwuu ma dị oke nzụlite nke na-egosi ọmarịcha ihe ọmụma, talent na nghọta nke ndị designer ha. A na-atụ anya na Sempoa Oche Ezumike ga-abụ ọrụ dị ịtụnanya, ihe nlereanya, nke dị oke ọrụ ma dị omimi n'ihe ọhụrụ. Design a meriri A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha bụ ihe e mepụtara dị oke ịrịba ama, nke a na-eto nke na-erite uru ma na-ebuga oke nka, sayensị, design na teknụzụ n'ihu. Sempoa Oche Ezumike bụ ihe e kere eke ọtụtụ ndị na-ekwo ekworo ya nke na-akpali ọchịchọ, na-eweta mmetụta ọma ma na-akpali ịtụnanya.

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.