Taekhan Yun's design philosophy revolves around embracing slowness and imperfection, viewing them as integral components of the creative process. This approach is particularly evident in his collaborations with children, where he sees humanity and imperfection as fundamental design principles. By focusing on the process of drawing, collaboration, and making, Yun's work allows form to emerge gradually, emphasizing the importance of staying with what is fragile and unresolved.
In his projects, such as the Chair for Kids and Birdhouse by Kids, Yun treats children's drawings not as references but as active languages that shape the work itself. This method allows for a shared and evolving design process, where children's imagination plays a central role in destabilizing fixed design logic. By working with children, Yun aims to demonstrate that design is not solely the domain of professionals but can grow and expand through diverse forms of participation.
The handmade process in Yun's work is crucial, as it holds time within it and allows for the visibility of imperfection. Hesitation, repetition, accident, and revision become integral to the design thinking, enabling the discovery of new stories and forms. This approach expands Yun's thinking, allowing him to follow intuition and deepen the work itself. The slow and iterative process often leads to unexpected mistakes or accidental deformations, which become opportunities for innovation.
Yun's design philosophy also draws attention to the small irregularities that make objects feel alive, promoting slowness, imperfection, and human emotion as alternative possibilities for design. This perspective is particularly relevant in a hyper-productive design culture, where fast cycles of production often leave out relationships between people, emotions, memories, and a sense of human warmth. By working with children, Yun makes this aspect of tenderness visible, as each child expresses and understands things differently, requiring continuous adjustment and responsiveness.
In essence, Taekhan Yun's design approach emphasizes the importance of slowness, imperfection, and collaboration, viewing these elements as essential components of the creative process. His work challenges the notion of design as a closed, personal act and instead promotes a shared and evolving process, where children's imagination and participation play a central role in shaping the final form of each project.
