設計，能用世界語言
講述我們自己的文化嗎？
傳統的日常，神明、地域與約定俗成的節慶。
我們能否用現代設計的理性，
構成僅屬於自己文化的表達？
Design, can we speak our own culture in a world language
Can we speak of our own culture?
The traditional everyday, the sacred, the regional and the customary festivals.
Can we use the rationality of modern design
Can we use the rationality of modern design to form an expression of our own culture alone?
福舟椅 FOOCHOW CHAIR
解構傳統龍舟文化，
做一把當下的椅子
福舟椅具有簡潔明了的線條、幾乎沒有多餘的結構，卻一眼令人感受到了它的“中國解讀”。這來自吱音的一次嘗試：當我們用更當代的設計語言來詮釋傳統龍舟文化，形式只餘下最簡單直接的構成，卻更凸顯民俗淳樸和共鳴。
為了能更貼合現代人生活的使用場景，我們還將福舟椅這一形制變化為不同的座椅功能，適用於餐廳、客廳和吧台。
FOOCHOW CHAIR
Deconstructing traditional dragon boat culture.
Make a chair of the moment
With its simple and clear lines and almost no superfluous structure, the Fu Zhou Chair instantly gives a sense of its "Chinese interpretation". This is an attempt by Zee Yin: when we use a more contemporary design language to interpret the traditional dragon boat culture, the form is only the simplest and most direct composition left, but the folklore is more simple and resonant.
In order to be more in line with modern life scenarios, we have also changed the form of the Fu Zhou chair into different seating functions, suitable for restaurants, living rooms and bars.
原點
一個中國的設計品牌，應該如何解讀自己的文化？
Origin
How should a Chinese design brand interpret its own culture?
Ziinlife 的設計具有很強的功能性，但源頭往往來自於我們對於內在精神和情感的思考。作為一個生長於中國的設計品牌，我們一直在思考著如何用設計表達自我身份與文化。福舟椅正是關於這個命題的一次新思考。
設計要有精神內核，就需要自內而外的表達。中國家具傳統的榫卯、竹木、方正等元素，如直接移植至現代生活中，在我們看來少了些深入。我們希望找到更加貼合當下的設計語言，重新詮釋我們身處的熟悉土地。
Ziinlife 的主創設計師生長在中國，又有著意大利的留學背景，在思考在地文化與設計語言關係的過程中，有了更多的角度。我們想到了丹麥設計師Hans J. Wegner的China Chair。這把以中國圈椅為靈感而設計的椅子，雖有東方的元素，但又完全是西方的設計表達。
如果以此為原點，一個中國設計品牌要如何表達自己的文化呢？2019年，因為一次福州之行，我們有了想法。
Ziinlife's designs are highly functional, but the source often comes from our thoughts on inner spirit and emotion. As a Chinese design brand, we are always thinking about how to express our identity and culture through design. The Fuzhou chair is a new reflection on this proposition.
In order to have a spiritual core, the design needs to be expressed from the inside out. The traditional elements of Chinese furniture, such as mortise and tenon, bamboo and wood, and squareness, if directly transplanted into modern life, seem to us to be less in-depth. We hope to find a more relevant design language to reinterpret the familiar land we are in.
靈感
福州這個城市太有趣了，能不能用產品去說？
Inspiration
Fuzhou is such an interesting city, can we talk about it in terms of products?
2019年吱音設計館也在福州開幕。設計團隊頻繁造訪福州，重新認識到還有生命力的“在地文化”。
在關注本土城市文化的雜誌《HOMELAND家園》的帶領下，我們更加了解了福州這個城市的龍舟文化。
In 2019, the Squeaky Voice Design Museum also opened in Fuzhou. The design team visited Fuzhou frequently to reacquaint themselves with the "local culture" that is still alive.
Under the guidance of HOMELAND Home, a magazine focusing on local city culture, we got to know more about the dragon boat culture of Fuzhou.
在福州，劃龍舟是人們的日常。“龍舟俱樂部”裡，都是平凡的年輕人。每年端午前後，河上吆喝的口號聲就意味著集訓的開始。從龍舟製作、購買到競賽，形成了一個城市文化的內循環，傳統文化自然而然地在城市裡生存下來。
龍舟文化傳統古老卻又新鮮有趣，設計是否能對這樣的在地生活相回應呢？我們以城市在地文化為源頭，同時試著跳脫在其外，以現代設計的視角反觀傳統。
In Fuzhou, dragon boating is a daily routine. The "Dragon Boat Club" is full of ordinary young people. Every year around the Dragon Boat Festival, the sound of slogans yelling on the river means the start of training. From dragon boat making, purchasing to competition, an inner cycle of city culture is formed, and traditional culture naturally survives in the city.
The dragon boat culture is traditional and old, yet fresh and interesting. We take the local culture of the city as the source, but at the same time, we try to look at the tradition from the perspective of modern design.
重新解讀
設計一把椅子
Reinterpretation
Designing a chair
我們最初就確定要做一把椅子。
在福州的龍舟文化里，有一個與椅子有關的有趣現象。因為龍舟習俗的普及，如今很多龍舟賽隊都有贊助商，這樣的讚助能讓一個傳統文化擁有良性的存在與循環。
與此同時，傳統文化也隨之開始演化：從前福州的龍舟，龍頭有一把椅子，往往屬於被大家選出來的、有威望的人。如今這個位置往往屬於贊助商。
We decided to make a chair from the very beginning.
In Fuzhou's dragon boat culture, there is an interesting phenomenon related to chairs. Because of the popularity of the dragon boat custom, many dragon boat racing teams now have sponsors, and this kind of patronage allows a traditional culture to have a healthy existence and cycle.
At the same time, traditional culture has also evolved: In the old days, the dragon boat in Fuzhou had a chair at the head of the dragon, which often belonged to the person who was elected by the people and had prestige. Nowadays, this position often belongs to the sponsor.
這些習俗沒有成為博物館裡的歷史，而是仍然鮮活地存在於城市中，這讓我們非常震撼，設計一把椅子的念頭也隨之確定。
同時，在參觀龍舟村時，我們發現龍舟的製作與家具製作有著共通之處——同樣是用木材作為主材料，同樣有著各式各樣的基礎結構。只是龍舟的製作工藝、機器，相對更傳統一些。
有意思的是，因為熟稔龍舟的木工工序，村里人還會自己動手做簡易的木家具，甚至開創一些十分實用而充滿“民間智慧”的結構形態。
We were struck by the fact that these customs are not a part of the museum's history, but are still alive in the city, and the idea of designing a chair was confirmed.
At the same time, when we visited the dragon boat village, we found that dragon boat making and furniture making have something in common - the same wood is used as the main material and there are various kinds of basic structures. The only thing is that the manufacturing process and machinery of dragon boats are more traditional.
Interestingly, because they are familiar with the woodworking process of dragon boats, people in the village also make simple wooden furniture by themselves, and even create some very practical and "folk-wise" structural forms.
能否用現代的木材結構重新表達這一把椅子，也成為設計師埋下的想法。
The idea of re-expressing the chair in a modern wood structure was also planted in the designer's mind.
草圖
用現代的設計詞彙，創造東方的句子
Sketch
Use modern design vocabulary to create eastern sentences
中國傳統文化往往有著繁複的元素和深厚的底蘊，而現代設計又簡單直接、以工業化製造為前提。這一次，吱音試著在兩者之間尋找微妙的共通點。
在這個過程裡，我們聯想到現代主義設計最具代表性的荷蘭風格派，主張用純粹的幾何線條和色彩來表現精神內核，避免使用任何具像元素。
Traditional Chinese culture often has complex elements and deep roots, while modern design is simple and straightforward, premised on industrialized manufacturing. This time, Ziinlife tried to find a subtle common ground between the two.
In this process, we are reminded of the Dutch School, the most representative of modernist design, which advocates the use of pure geometric lines and colors to express the spiritual core, avoiding the use of any figurative elements.
我們保留了福州感受到的最原始、淳樸的文化特徵，但同時將它簡潔化。因此，福舟椅最鮮明的視覺特點是簡潔的線條。同時，我們也刻意避免精緻圓潤，以乾淨的線條傳達質樸的力量感。
We have preserved the most original and simple cultural features felt in Fuzhou, but at the same time simplified it. Therefore, the most distinctive visual feature of the Fuzhou chair is the simple lines. At the same time, we have deliberately avoided delicate roundness and used clean lines to convey a sense of rustic power.
最終這把福舟椅自草圖完成時，就已經實現了“自然而然呈現出來的東方形態”，而其結構形式與細節又充滿西方理性的簡潔。
In the end, the chair was "naturally oriental" when the sketch was completed, and its structural form and details are full of Western rational simplicity.
深化
使用上，也應該更加貼合現代生活
Deepening
Use, should also be more in line with modern life
在深化形成具體的椅子形態時，我們更多考量的是使用體驗。因此，我們根據人機工程學對椅子的尺度進行反复推敲，考量座椅和靠背之間的關係，不斷調試達到相對舒適的效果。
When deepening the specific shape of the chair, we consider more the experience of use. Therefore, we repeatedly deliberate on the scale of the chair according to ergonomics, consider the relationship between the seat and backrest, and continuously adjust to achieve a relatively comfortable effect.
在製作材料的選擇上，我們希望能用中國人最熟悉的木頭，進行純粹的在地文化的表達。
福舟椅選用白橡木製作，具有堅實的質地和良好的質感，能讓人們直接感受到木頭的質感。同時表面用環保水性漆和陽極氧化工藝，呈現座椅原木色和黑色下的優美木紋。
In the choice of materials, we hope to use the wood that Chinese people are most familiar with, to carry out the pure expression of local culture.
The chair is made of white oak, which has a solid texture and good feel, allowing people to directly feel the texture of the wood. At the same time, the surface is painted with environmentally friendly water-based lacquer and anodized chemical to present the beautiful wood grain under the original wood color and black color of the chair.
生產製作
基於設計手法，採用直接的製作工藝
Production
Direct manufacturing process based on design approach
簡潔的結構與語言是在草圖之初就確定的。因此，龍舟椅是可以快速、批量化生產的產品。它考慮並利用了現代設計、工業批量化生產的優勢，令設計可以到達更多人的生活。
The simple structure and language were determined at the beginning of the sketch. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Chair is a product that can be produced quickly and in bulk. It takes into account and utilizes the advantages of modern design and industrial mass production so that the design can reach more people's lives.
在設計之初，這把椅子已經經過生產流程的前置思考，因此內部結構包含榫卯，但是可以直接用機械化實現，易於加工生產。
它擁有通過機械就能實現的榫卯連接，相對更加純粹的結構。同時通過完整包裝，運輸到家後無需安裝，即可體驗。
The chair was designed with the production process in mind, so that the internal structure contains mortise and tenon joints, but can be directly mechanized for easy processing and production.
It has a relatively pure structure with mortise and tenon joints that can be mechanically realized. It is also fully packaged so that it can be experienced without installation after being transported to your home.
根據餐廳、客廳或商業空間的適用性，我們還調整了每一個版本福舟椅的比例關係，形成餐椅、沙發椅、吧檯椅三種形式。
According to the suitability of the restaurant, living room or commercial space, we also adjusted the proportional relationship of each version of the FuZhou chair, forming three forms of dining chairs, sofa chairs and bar chairs.
福舟椅是一次我們用更當代的設計語言來詮釋在地文化的嘗試，它不僅僅是一件設計作品，我們希望能真正被更多人使用。
The Fuzhou chair is our attempt to interpret local culture in a more contemporary design language. It is not just a piece of design, we hope it can be used by more people.
Foochow Chair
www.ziinlife.com.hk/products/foochow-chair
Foodchow Lounge Chair
www.ziinlife.com.hk/products/foochow-lounge-chair
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