We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Lu Li about their original and creative Hanger design work. Lu Li is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original hanger works.
Lu Li ("LL") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Butterfly Hanger. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
LL : Butterfly hanger is an innovative product of the existing structure. There are too many matching structures of round metal frame and round stick on the market. When I look up this structure, I was thinking that why it has to be a circle. The circle is a kind of non-directional shape. I was wondering If we change it into other directional shapes, what kind of effect it’ll have, and what kind of different structure will be born. So, I changed the combination of circle and circle into the combination of triangle and triangle, the combination of quadrilateral and quadrilateral, and got some structures with fixed directionality. Finally, the structure is applied to the furniture design, and that’s where the butterfly hanger is from.
LL : With the fast-paced urbanization and rapid development of the logistics industry in China, a large number of assembled furniture appeared in the market. However, they are often of poor quality, and the metal joints make it hard to assemble and disassemble the furniture repeatedly because they will not fit into the drill holes and remain tight over the course of the product’s lifecycle. When a customer moves to a new place for a job change or other reasons, it inevitably produces a large number of 'furniture garbage', resulting in environmental pollution and waste of resources. I have been studying this problem and have long been engaged in the research of the new Ready-to-assemble furniture (RTA). Prioritizing the functionality, I managed to create a perfect RTA that is elegant, durable, and perfectly structured, while making the best out of the features of the material.
LL : I want to produce more good works, gradually form my own design style, become an excellent independent designer.
LL : Its design concept didn't take a long time, about a week.
LL : When I was studying at Kyushu University in Japan, the theme of my research was assembling furniture by hand. Around this theme, I created a lot of assembling furniture, and the butterfly hanger is one of the most representative works.
LL : At present, I am cooperating with a large furniture company in China, hoping to push it to the Chinese market in 2020. But the foreign market has not been involved, if there are good partners, we can consider cooperation.
LL : No, it is completely designed by myself.
LL : It is designed for the young generation of the 90s and 95s. These people haven't settled down yet, because of work and other reasons, they have been tossing and turning around the major cities. In China, the landlord provides them with the most basic furniture, many small pieces of furniture are not available. I hope to equip them with such small pieces of furniture, which can move with them until they settle down.
LL : Because the starting direction is different. It starts from the structure and extends from the structure to its function. It can be said that it is from the details to the overall design, while most other designs start from the appearance, from the overall to the details. The starting point is quite different, which makes this product different from other similar design products.
LL : Its name is a butterfly hanger, which was not determined until the shooting. Because it was shot from a certain angle, where it looks like a flying butterfly, which is why it’s called butterfly hanger.
LL : Only CAD and sketch up were used.
LL : The solid wood used for screw assembling furniture will damage the integrity of solid wood and add to the complexity of assembly. Because they are mostly furniture involving no screwing. Each component is a relatively independent and complete individual, which is convenient to assemble. In case of loss of individual parts, they can be replaced separately.
LL : It was designed by myself and made by me under the guidance of the staff of the workshop of Kyushu University, 津田 三郎, and 福澤萌.
LL : In terms of technology, it does not involve a very complex process. Simple metal processing and solid wood process are needed though.
LL : There are many challenges when putting the concept into practice. Due to the lack of understanding of materials and technology in the early stage, some details of the original design were modified many times during the production process. For example, the metal material chosen in the concept is brass, and stainless steel is used in the actual production. Through these exercises, I have a further understanding of materials and technology, which is beneficial to my later design.
LL : What does it mean for society and the environment? People will abandon the furniture that cannot be taken away which results in a waste of resources and environmental pollution. With the development of the logistics industry in China, high-quality assembled furniture can follow the users to move from city to city. This kind of furniture can not only save money but also become emotional sustenance. For society, it is a product with sustainability, environmentally friendly, and resource-saving.
