What is the nature of life in a developing rapidly city, Hong Kong?
A lots of old buildings and heritage were erased in the name of city development. However, are these old things being “useless”?
An amount of pier fender woods had almost been discarded after Wan Chai Ferry Pier demolition. Fortunately, a wood cutting factory has given a shelter instead of landfills. These woods were originated from Sandakan Borneo, and called balau wood. It always gets very high performance in shipbuilding, flooring, bridges and fine furniture, due to its high strength and durability. These woods had been soaked in seawater for quite amount of time. The surface was worn away by time, weather and water, so that is riddled with irregular holes. We designed this bench with these "useless" woods.
Designed by Otherwhere Studio
Considering the context of this balau wood, we put our focus on the self-nature. We designed and crafted minimally, to show the ingenuous integrity of natural objects: subtle proportion, profound form, modest shape, and unique natural surfaces. Using the simplest structure, integrated it with a natural wood branches. The bench has presented a rich and delicate imagery: time shapes life, life shapes history; the history is presented like a mottled wood surface, spiritual longing of life is extending out like the branches.
Life is constantly changing, nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.
We emphasis on the self-nature of the material, since we believe medium is the message. Through the essence of the material, we see the traces of life; and from traces of life, we feel the beauty of nature.
Size : 1860Wx 300Dx2300H mm
