Butterfly joints don’t at all times get the popularity they deserve. In conventional Korean picket structure (referred to as hanok), woodworking, and masonry, these swish connectors – referred to as nabi-jangbu – quietly maintain the whole lot along with precision, tucked out of sight inside beams and frameworks. Somewhat than cover this important ingredient, designer Jin Kim, founding father of the studio JAYUJAJE, brings it into the highlight. Designed as a sculptural ode to Korean joinery, the Bugak stool transforms the common-or-garden butterfly joint into each a structural anchor and a fascinating point of interest – one which invitations interplay and divulges a hidden shock.
At first look, the Bugak stool seems to be a minimalist, unassuming seat. Its smooth curves and swish silhouette are grounded by heat wooden grain in two tones that provides simply the correct quantity of visible texture. However look nearer: on the heart, a butterfly-shaped element subtly hints that there’s greater than meets the attention. With a mild press, the shape depresses, then slowly rises to disclose a hid inside shelf – an surprising shock that brings added operate to the design. Fittingly, bugak means to disclose, spotlight, or elevate – exactly what this piece does for a once-hidden structural element.
By spotlighting the butterfly joint, Kim flips the script on conventional building. In Korean joinery, these connections are sometimes hidden, silently reinforcing a construction from inside. However in Bugak, that quiet connector turns into the primary character. It not solely holds the stool collectively – it defines its silhouette and invitations new methods of participating with it. Via this small however highly effective gesture, Kim turns an age-old craft approach into one thing interactive, poetic, and fully up to date.
To be taught extra concerning the Bugak stool by Jin Kim of studio JAYUJAJE, go to www.jayujaje.com.
Pictures courtesy of JAYUJAJE.
