Side Gallery
Side Gallery
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DESIGN MIAMI SEOUL
31ST AUG - 6TH SEPT 2026
DDPLAZA, SEOUL
SOUTH KOREA
For its presentation at Design Miami Seoul 2026, Side Gallery brings together a selection of contemporary Japanese and South Korean designers whose practices explore the intersections of material, process, tradition, and experimentation. Conceived as a dialogue between two neighboring yet distinct creative contexts, the presentation examines how inherited techniques and cultural knowledge can be reinterpreted through contemporary modes of making.
Across ceramics, glass, metal, lacquer, paper, textiles, and organic materials, the selected works reveal an approach to design in which material is not simply a means of production, but an active agent in shaping form. Processes of firing, oxidation, hammering, lacquering, weaving, blowing, and transformation remain visible within the objects, allowing traces of time, gesture, and natural variation to become integral to their final expression.
The Japanese selection brings together works by Yuji Ueda, Kodai Ujiie, Koichi Io, Hashimoto Tomonari, and Junpei Kawaguchi. Their practices engage with long-established traditions of ceramics, metalwork, and weaving while allowing experimentation, chance, and the intrinsic properties of materials to determine the character of each piece. From the physical transformations produced through firing and patination to the repetition and precision of handwoven structures, their works reveal craftsmanship as an evolving field rather than a fixed inheritance.
In dialogue with these practices, the South Korean selection features works by Park Sung Jun, Gyuhan Lee, Yeunhee Ryu, Dahyeon Yoo, Hyeokjin Jung, Somyeong Lee, Park Sung-Youl, and Lee Jeongwon. Working across glass, silver, lacquer, paper, aluminum, and organic composites, these designers investigate the possibilities of traditional and industrial materials through distinctly contemporary approaches. Together, the works establish a landscape of relationships between permanence and impermanence, control and unpredictability, function and sculptural expression, reflecting a broader understanding of contemporary design as a continuously evolving material and cultural practice.
