HAHOUSE
POETIC RAWNESS
Seoul-based design studio ‘niceworkshop’ transformed a decrepit facility into a raw immersive retail and exhibition experience.
Words by Natalie Lam
Photography by Jinseob Kim
Seoul-based design studio, ‘niceworkshop’ transformed a decrepit facility into a raw immersive retail and exhibition experience. Fitted with gleaming display cases and sleek sitting nooks, the interior design illustrates the studio’s signature design language while retaining the building’s industrial appeal.
Measuring at 89.3-square-metres, the studio was tasked to seamlessly fuse the venue’s various functions: a lifestyle store and complex culture space to better reflect the HAHOUSE’s evolved brand and visual language. To avoid a single space from appearing too overwhelming and authoritative, the composition of the exhibition was divided through a parallel arrangement, opting for a horizontal individual space rather than a vertical sequential one.
“The space was designed around the theme “Affordance”, to induce human behaviour and psychology,” explains Hyunseog Oh, founder of niceworkshop, therefore “this was created with the intent of encouraging visitors to actively experience the exhibition, to touch and interact with the furniture and premises itself, rather than just a passive experience.”.
Location : 8, Itaewon-ro, Youngsan-gu, Seoul
Furniture : niceworkshop. (@niceworkshop_)
Spatial Design : Hyunseog, Oh (@ohhyunseog)
Photo : Jinseob Kim (@seeinjinseob)
“‘HAHOUSE’ is composed of a design that is faithful to the basics, and created with a high degree of completion with stainless hardware or furniture details.”
- Hyunseog Oh, founder of niceworkshop
For niceworkshop, the purpose behind a piece of furniture goes beyond a tool, and is also seen as a medium to convey an artist’s individuality and ingenuity. Through a series of sitting nooks and exhibition areas, visitors can truly experience the artist’s message, reflect in their choice of intuitive materials and forms, utilised to urge observation and action.
The studio decided to expose the building’s original ruinous state, showcasing all its imperfections, from the cracks and stains in the concrete, to the cavities and chipped corners, to the raw and rough textures of the material; intended as a device to celebrate the memories of the place while imbuing the space with a poetic rawness. Conversely, a series of sharp, stainless-steel, modern interventions convey an immaculate sense of elegance made all the more intense by the juxtaposition. Most of the pieces featured within the design, such as the sliding door, furniture, handles, and lighting, were custom design and made by the team, combined to complement the interior and pre-existing concrete build.
“‘Experimental experience’ is not limited to a passive experience, but an active and actionable one. For niceworkshop, furniture is not just an object that people have prepared and used for the convenience of daily life. Considering basic practicality, it goes beyond furniture as a tool, and is a medium that conveys the artist’s individual imagination and inspiration. The audience will be able to experience the artist’s message reflected in intuitive materials and forms, focusing on observation and action itself.”
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Seoul-based design studio, ‘niceworkshop’ transformed a decrepit facility into a raw immersive retail and exhibition experience. Fitted with gleaming display cases and sleek sitting nooks, the interior design illustrates the studio’s signature design language while retaining the building’s industrial appeal.