Zense Sete ya Tafole le Setulo by Louis Wai Yin Hung

Zense Sete ya Tafole le Setulo by Louis Wai Yin Hung is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Moputso oa Khauta oa A' Design Award in Moralo wa Fenitjhara Competition Category.

KhautaFenitjhara· 2025

Zense Sete ya Tafole le Setulo

by Louis Wai Yin Hung

Client: Iterative Studio

Moputso oa Khauta oa A' Design Award Winner in Fenitjhara Category

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The Design

About Zense Sete ya Tafole le Setulo

Zense ke tafole e fetolang e kopanyang bokgoni ba setso ba Machaena le tshebetso ya sejoalejoale. Moralo wa yona o etsa hore phetoho e be ketso ya moetlo, o sebelisang maikutlo kaofela a mahlano a mosebelisi ho fetola ka bonolo pakeng tsa sebaka sa ho ngola mongolo le sethala sa moetlo wa tee. Ntho ena e entswe ka matsoho, e batlang bo sesane bo sa tswaelwang ba lehong ka mekgwa ya bokgoni ba setsebi, e itšhetlehile feela ka mekgwa ya setso ya ho kopanya lehong, ntle le dikarolo tsa tshipi.

The Recognition

About the Moputso oa Khauta oa A' Design Award

Zense Sete ya Tafole le Setulo ke mohapi oa Moputso oa Khauta oa A' Design Award, kananelo e hlomphehang haholo e fuoang meralo ea maemo a pele, e ntle ka ho makatsa le e ikhethang. Bahapi ba Khauta ke lintho tse hlahisitsoeng tse nang le mehopolo e mecha haholo, tse shebileng pele le tse khanyang ka ho foufatsa, tse bontšang botsebi, bohlale le bokhoni ba baqapi ba tsona. Zense Sete ya Tafole le Setulo e lebelletsoe ho ba mohopolo o babatsoang haholo, o thehang mekhoa e mecha le o moholo, o tlisang boleng bo sa kang ba bonoa. Moralo ona o hapileng Moputso oa Khauta oa A' Design Award ke mosebetsi o tsosang maikutlo, o hlomphehang, o tlisang molemo o moholo le o sutumelletsang meeli ea bonono, mahlale, moralo le theknoloji. Zense Sete ya Tafole le Setulo e hlahisa maikutlo a matla a takatso, e tsosa tjantjello, e khothalletsa boqapi mme e re khahlisa.

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.