BUGAK
Bugak is a furniture project that explores the structural and sculptural potential of traditional Korean joinery.
At the heart of the project is the butterfly joint, a key technique in Hanok wooden architecture used to connect and support wooden elements without nails or adhesives.
Typically hidden within the structure, this type of joint is brought to the surface in this project—becoming the core of the design, both in form and function. In the stool, the butterfly joint not only holds the structure together, but also acts as a responsive mechanism: when pressed, it reveals a hidden space, transforming the connection into movement, interaction, and experience.
The same concept extends to a modular wall-mounted shelf.
Here, a butterfly joint–shaped wooden base is fixed to the wall, and solid wood shelf pieces—precisely cut to match the joint—are slotted into place. The result is a simple, flexible, and reconfigurable system, where the act of joining itself defines the form. In this way, Bugak’s philosophy expands from horizontal furniture to vertical space.
Bugak proposes that connection is not just a means, but a starting point for form, meaning, and interaction.
Tradition is no longer ornament—it becomes structure.
Connection is no longer hidden—it becomes central.
Hidden to Highlighted
A Dialogue Between Methods
One form, two hands. One idea, two worlds.
For SaloneSatellite 2025’s theme, “New Craftsmanship: A New World,”
Bugak presents a pair of identical stools—each made using a different method.
One is crafted through traditional hand-carving techniques,
and the other through contemporary digital processes.
Though the form remains the same, the traces left by the hands—and machines—reveal the distinct nature of each approach.
Small differences in surface, joinery, and presence reflect not only a technical contrast, but a philosophical one:
What is preserved, what is transformed, and what connects the two.
By placing the same structure in two making contexts,
Bugak explores craftsmanship not as a fixed tradition, but as a living conversation between time, tool, and touch.
A Dialogue Between Methods
One form, two hands. One idea, two worlds.
For SaloneSatellite 2025’s theme, “New Craftsmanship: A New World,”
Bugak presents a pair of identical stools—each made using a different method.
One is crafted through traditional hand-carving techniques,
and the other through contemporary digital processes.
Though the form remains the same, the traces left by the hands—and machines—reveal the distinct nature of each approach.
Small differences in surface, joinery, and presence reflect not only a technical contrast, but a philosophical one:
What is preserved, what is transformed, and what connects the two.
By placing the same structure in two making contexts,
Bugak explores craftsmanship not as a fixed tradition, but as a living conversation between time, tool, and touch.