Sukwoo Lee and the team at Seoul-based design studio SWNA experiment across disciplines, creating impactful designs with an approach that blends innovation and a commitment to improving the world through their work.
In our interview, Lee, who designed the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Medals, discusses the studio’s approach to contemporary Korean design. He explains SWNA’s philosophy, which integrates multidisciplinary thinking and draws from varied inspirations, including industrial design and quantum mechanics.
He outlines the studio’s “three-dimensional thinking” methodology, its application in collaborations with global brands, and addresses the influence of traditional Korean aesthetics and the Hallyu wave on industrial design in Korea.
Through examples of key projects, such as the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics medal and work with Fritz Hansen, Lee describes SWNA’s balancing client requirements with innovative design solutions. The conversation offers a window into the current state of Korean design and the guiding principles of one of its notable studios.
I am very interested in crossbreeding. Since my college days, I have tried to combine industrial design, graphic design, and UX design, and as a result, I released my graduation project, CD player ‘Spotlight the music and Touch the light’ in 2004, which received good responses both domestically and internationally.
I majored in sculpture in high school, and I also get a lot of inspiration from fine art. Recently, I have been interested in quantum mechanics and the Buddhist emptiness concept ‘Gong’.
“We try to expand the scope of our thinking as much as possible in the early stages of a project, and we tend to present various (sometimes strange) ideas as a way to do so.”
I like the dynamism of Korea and the contrast that comes with it. Also, the Korean national sentiment is deeply ingrained with the consciousness of ‘innovation in life.’
For example, if you look closely at everyday objects such as ‘jjamjja-noodle bowls’ or delivery iron bags that are currently used in Korea, you can see this ingenuity. I think these Korean rituals have permeated Korean products and services and formed their souls.
As various global companies expand their business in Korea, opportunities for collaboration have increased. Naturally, there has been more exchange and more opportunities for global projects, which has led to more opportunities to showcase our projects on the international stage. We are also currently working with LVMH, Fritz Hansen, ALPI, and the V&A Museum.
“The Korean national sentiment is deeply ingrained with the consciousness of ‘innovation in life.’”
In today’s industrial design and product design, contextual thinking is important. For example, if the physical experience was important for the old phone, the current smartphone must be designed from the physical experience to the visual, auditory, and tactile senses, and the object must be viewed as an extension of the content and service.
A multidisciplinary approach allows us to see the essence of these contextual products and services.
We try to listen to our clients’ stories. Usually, clients have fragmented ideas that are not contextually connected, but our designers with diverse backgrounds interpret them from various angles and present them as broad ideas. This process is repeated to bring about innovation through three-dimensional thinking.
“Usually, clients have fragmented ideas that are not contextually connected, but our designers with diverse backgrounds interpret them from various angles and present them as broad ideas.”
We try to find the intersection between our values and our clients’ values. The size of that intersection makes the design bolder and more unique. We try to expand the scope of our thinking as much as possible in the early stages of a project, and we tend to present various (sometimes strange) ideas as a way to do so.
“We try to find the intersection between our values and our clients’ values. The size of that intersection makes the design bolder and more unique.”
The range of diversity is so wide that clients are sometimes surprised at first. However, we freely use divergence and convergence, and as a result, we try to differentiate ourselves while meeting the client’s needs.
I would choose the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics medal and the master planning of Daewoo Construction’s Prugio apartment.
I also remember the recent Fritz Hansen collaboration. We were able to get closer to the public through the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics medal design. It also gave me the opportunity to think about Korea’s identity or Koreaness and interpret it in my own way.
The Prugio apartment master planning was a large-scale project that encompassed various fields such as architecture, industry, product, visual, and service design. It was meaningful to us in that we were able to grasp the context of various fields, which is SWNA’s strength, and develop the design with a single message.
The lighting, tray, and partition designs for Fritz Hansen’s 150th-Anniversary Exhibition in Korea were also impressive.
It was a work that naturally expressed my own thoughts while contrasting and reflecting the beauty of Europe and the beauty of Korea.
