Tech meets tradition as 17 designers reimagine Korea's 'soban' table
A poster for the “SEOUL LIFE 2026: Heritage Reimagined, Soban” exhibition / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
A humble Korean table is getting a high-tech second life in Seoul, where 17 designers are turning the traditional "soban" into sculptural objects shaped by 3D printing, lacquer and mother-of-pearl.
The Seoul Design Foundation is presenting SEOUL LIFE 2026: Heritage Reimagined, Soban from Monday through Oct. 8 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza’s (DDP) Design Dullegil Gallery, bringing works first shown in April during Milan Design Week to a Korean audience.
A soban is a small, portable Korean tray-table traditionally used as an individual dining table. Combining the functions of a tray and a table, it stands roughly 30 centimeters off the floor and is designed to hold a single meal.
The exhibition drew 20,346 visitors at ADI Design Museum in Milan, where its combination of traditional Korean craft and contemporary design received favorable attention, according to the foundation.
"Soban is a design asset that holds Korea's traditional lifestyle culture while flexibly connecting to contemporary life," said Cha Kang-hee, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation. "Through this exhibition, we want to share domestic and international designers' fresh interpretations with the public, building a design record that reflects Seoul today."
The Seoul exhibition includes 13 Korean teams and four international designers, among them Kang Yi-youn, Kim Jin-sik, Moon Seung-ji, Sung Jung-ki, Son Dong-hoon, Yi Seok-woo, Stefano Giovannoni, Anna Gili, Odile Decq and Marco Oggian.
Designers have preserved elements of the soban while experimenting with materials and production methods, pairing traditional techniques such as lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlay with digital modeling and 3D printing.
Kim’s “Taking my snail for a walk” translates the tangled vines of a Joseon-era ink painting into an organic leg structure made through 3D printing.
Gili’s “MIAWO” transforms the four-legged table into a companion animal, while Decq’s “Fluid Maze” uses a shifting maze-like form to evoke discovery through movement.
A design talk scheduled for Wednesday will bring participating designers and production specialists together to discuss planning, fabrication and collaboration between traditional techniques and contemporary technology.
The 17 works will become part of DDP’s collection after the exhibition, with the Seoul Design Foundation planning to preserve them for future exhibitions, research and educational programs.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.