Oyako Chair
A set of “mother-daughter” chairs to extend a mother’s memories of her cherished childhood chair.
HEAL: Repair+ explores the concept of healing and mending emotional memories through the design, restoration, and transformation of broken objects.
What does “retail therapy” do for us? And yet, why do we keep some things even after they have lost their form and function?
As throwaway culture, mental health and wellbeing have been drawing increasing attention, HEAL: Repair+ delves into narratives surrounding brokenness and broken items and how the act of repair can provide an alternative path to healing.
An open call was made via social media and community partner outreach to submit broken, spoilt, and faulty objects that were meaningful or precious. Eight objects were chosen and paired with eight designers who were invited to restore the submitted objects. Through discussion and collaboration between the owners and designers, they explored the memories associated with their objects and pushed the boundaries of creative restoration to create new objects and new memories.
YEAR
2024
TEAM
Woodworker: Joshua Ram (25 Degree Woodworks) Photography: Jonathan Levi (Chronicler Photography) Exhibition Design: Studio Juju Repair+ Curatorial Team: Hans Tan Studio & Yishun Health
EXHIBITION
Heal: Repair, Singapore Design Week
REPAIR OBJECT: DORY'S CHAIR
The small blue assembled plastic chair was a cherished piece once used by the mother, and now passed on to her daughter. The front legs come off easily yet can be reattached. Through conversations with her, I learned that the chair represented not just frugality, but the family time and values her parents embodied during her formative years - values she now hopes to pass on to her own family.
MAKING A SET OF "MOTHER-DAUGHTER" CHAIRS
I wanted to extend her memories of the chair into a "same" chair that she could experience in her adulthood, by making a replica of the original chair in adult proportions. Collaborating with Joshua, woodworker and owner of 25 Degree Woodworks, we adapted traditional woodworking techniques to reference the form and assembly of the original plastic chair.
REVEAL AND SHOWCASE
Throughout the process, Dory was kept under wraps about the final idea until the reveal. Hidden touches, like an engraving of her dedication to her daughter beneath the seat, were meant to be discovered through play. The hope is that the chair will accumulate scribbles and crayon markings, and bear many more family memories to come.