Wallpaper* Design Award winner Kunsik Choi reflects on duality in ‘The Mirror’

Sweden-based designer Kunsik Choi’s ‘The Mirror’ is an exercise in minimalist geometry

Aluminium and leather pair of mirrors next to each other
‘The Mirror,’ by Kunsik Choi
(Image credit: TBC)

Korean designer Kunsik Choi was inspired by contrasts for his diptych of mirrors, winner of Best Reflection in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2020. ‘Coldness and warmth, natural and artificial, good and bad, heavy and light: these images are always inherent in man and nature, creating an organic balance and subtle tension,’ he says. The duality of contrasts has long interested the Sweden-based designer, who has explored the idea of ‘putting conflicting concepts into harmony’.

Crafted from aluminium and leather, the pair of mirrors is an exercise in minimalist geometry. ‘Through the shapes and the texture of the materials, I wanted to express the reversal image that comes to mind when I think of a mirror,’ says Choi. The warmth of the vegetable-tanned leather contrasts with the cold metal to compelling effect.

Mirror detail

(Image credit: TBC)

The piece is part of a series of furniture and objects, including pond-shaped aluminium tables and stacked plinths, designed by Choi for the interior of eyewear brand Projekt Produkt’s boutique in Sinsa-dong, Seoul. The designer has created an immersive environment for the brand, with polished concrete floors, metal furniture and displays and neon lamps contrasting with subtle touches of colour, such as green upholstered benches, dusty pink carpet and curtains covering the full-length windows. The pared-back pieces fit seamlessly into the sleek industrial environment.

Choi worked closely with artisans in Seoul’s Mullae-dong neighbourhood, and every element of ‘The Mirror’ was made and assembled by hand, resulting in a perfectly balanced design.

INFORMATION

‘The Mirror’, €33,100, by Kunsik Choi

kunsik.com

Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.