Blooming Moments: An illustration of design as the creation of significant forms

03 Sep 2024

Siyun Xue proudly launches Blooming Moments, an elegantly simple home decor collection comprising a bowl, candle holder, and vase. Blooming Moments also serves as a statement of Xue's design approach as a process of conceiving and realizing significant forms.

The Blooming Moments Collection 1 Photo credit: Siyun Xue

Siyun Xue proudly launches Blooming Moments, an elegantly simple home decor collection comprising a bowl, candle holder, and vase. Beyond its significance as an industrial design work, Blooming Moments also serves as a statement of Xue's design approach as a process of conceiving and realizing significant forms.

The spirit of Xue’s design

Xue conceives and realizes functional objects with ‘significant forms’, drawing terminology introduced by art critic Clive Bell in 1914 about the quality that distinguishes art from mere artefacts. In her 1942 book Philosophy in a New Key, author Susanne Langer further interprets the significant form as one that articulates complexes of feeling.

“Blooming Moments was designed with that spirit at its core,” says Siyun Xue. “My design approach resonates most closely with Suzanne Langer's interpretation, and I endeavoured to go beyond mere functionality to convey calm portrayals of feeling, rather than outpourings of it.”

Unique conceptual forms

Inspired by various stages of flowering, Blooming Moments is a translation of Xue’s inspiration in the form of curves that abstract the contours of petals and water lily leaves. Through those design curves, Xue conveys a sense of buoyant yet gentle vitality.

Although all three pieces of the collection share the same inspiration, each object is uniquely designed with different methods of folding surfaces into petal-like shapes. Despite the uniqueness of each piece in the collection, Xue’s design goal is to achieve harmony among them, while ensuring that each conveys emotions with subtle differences.

 

The simplicity of elegant design

The conceived forms are realized with slotted-bent steel sheets and CNC-crafted black walnut wood. In each piece of the collection, the steel sheet is sandwiched between two wooden pieces securely bonded together, without the use of any hardware. This fabrication process validates the potential of slot bending and adhesive bonding techniques in form creation.

The Blooming Moments collection not only showcases the refined elegance of functional home décor but also embodies Xue's dedication to exploring the depth of significant forms. Through a blend of thoughtful ideas with straightforward techniques, each piece of this collection reveals a delicate interplay between form and emotion, transforming everyday objects into lasting works of art.

Technical sheet

Collection Name

Blooming Moments

Materials

Steel Sheet, Black Walnut Wood 

Treatments

Powder Coating (Steel), Wax Finish (Wood)

Dimensions

Bowl: Ø15.4'' x W15.4'' x H8.5''

Candel Holder: Ø3.6'' x W3.6'' x H0.9''

Vase: Ø12'' x W8.1'' x H13''

Price

Bowl: 195 USD

Candel Holder: 115 USD

Vase: 120 USD