Philia
Magazine

Saerom Yoon (b. 1985) is a Seoul-based designer and artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans collectible furniture, sculpture, and installation. Educated in woodworking and furniture design at Hongik University, he explores the poetic relationship between material, light, and memory, transforming ephemeral experiences of nature into sculptural works that balance functionality with artistic expression.

Working primarily with dyed acrylic resin, wood, and metal, Yoon creates luminous compositions inspired by the shifting colors and atmospheres of sunrise and sunset. Through an ongoing exploration of transparency, reflection, and color, his works capture fleeting moments of landscape and emotion, inviting quiet contemplation while dissolving the boundary between design and sculpture. His work has been exhibited internationally and recognized with distinctions including Wallpaper* Design Awards’ Next Generation Designer of the Year.

Sisan Lee (b.1995) is a Seoul-based designer whose practice explores the relationship between nature and the artificial. Working across sculpture, furniture, and spatial objects, he investigates how raw natural materials interact with the structural logic of industrial production.

Through the use of materials such as stone, wood, and metal, Lee creates compositions that highlight the tension between organic irregularity and industrial precision. His works often reference primitive structures while employing contemporary fabrication techniques, resulting in objects that feel both timeless and distinctly modern.

Operating between design and sculpture, Lee’s practice reflects an ongoing interest in the dialogue between natural formation and human intervention. By allowing material characteristics to guide form and structure, his works seek a quiet balance between raw material presence and constructed order.

Studio Chacha, founded by Cha Shin-sil, is a Seoul-based design studio working primarily with glass. Her practice explores the delicate balance between control and unpredictability inherent in the material, embracing the transformative qualities of heat, light, and transparency.

Through experimental processes, Cha reinterprets familiar forms into sculptural objects that blur the boundary between function and art. By layering colors, altering geometric structures, and manipulating glass through lampworking techniques, her work creates optical depth and shifting visual effects that invite closer observation.

Positioned between collectible design and material exploration, Studio Chacha produces objects and furniture that emphasize the expressive potential of glass, where subtle variations in color, texture, and form transform everyday typologies into unexpected visual experiences.

Minseon Kong is a Seoul-based floral artist and spatial director. Having studied art from an early age, she majored in Fine Art before completing a master’s degree in Visual Design. Grounded in a painterly sensitivity and a structured understanding of design, she now works with flowers as a medium through which she composes spatial environments.

Through her brand Midsummer, Kong interprets the nuances of each season with subtle precision. Rather than treating flowers as decorative elements, she approaches them as materials that carry time and atmosphere. With restrained structures and carefully considered negative space, she creates scenes that are quiet yet distinctive.

Her practice centers on introducing a minimal structure to nature. Within her installations, intention and chance, order and seasonality coexist, forming moments where natural presence and spatial composition come into delicate balance.

Hyungshin Hwang is a Seoul-based designer whose work explores memory, materiality, and structure through furniture and objects. Trained in woodworking and furniture design at Hongik University, where he earned both his BFA and MFA, Hwang develops a distinctive formal language that transforms everyday experiences and emotional narratives into carefully crafted forms.

Central to his practice is the ongoing Layered Series, first introduced at KIAF in 2007. Through modular construction and layered surfaces, the series reflects the accumulation of time, memory, and lived experience. Hwang’s work has been exhibited internationally at Milan Design Week, DMY Berlin Design Festival, Design Days Dubai, and Art Beijing, while also being presented at institutions including La Triennale di Milano, the Korea Craft & Design Foundation, and the National Hangeul Museum. Alongside his studio practice, he has taught at several leading universities in Korea, continuing to shape a body of work defined by a quiet sensitivity to material and form.

Andre Kikoski, AIA, LEED AP, is the Founding Principal of Andre Kikoski Architecture. A commitment to creating transformative architecture runs through all of the firm’s work, shaping projects that balance innovation, materiality, and experience.

Andre received his Master’s degree in Architecture from Harvard University, where he earned distinctions for innovation in design and technology. Prior to founding his practice, he trained with leading figures and firms including I.M. Pei, Peter Eisenman, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and William McDonough.

He currently serves on the board of the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation in Los Angeles, which oversees the Hollyhock House and supports a mission to foster a vibrant and inclusive space for creativity, cultural expression, civic dialogue, and social empowerment. Andre is also a former Trustee of the Van Alen Institute and a member of the Alumni Council Emeritus at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Andre speaks internationally across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. His engagements include ArtHamptons, Harvard University, the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, New York University, Savannah College of Art and Design, Parsons School of Design, and Pratt Institute, among others.