Zhang Zhongyu
Product Designer
Zhang has a master’s degree in product design from the Royal College of Art in the UK, and currently lives and works in Shanghai. Her work has been exhibited at London Design Festival, Paris Design Week, Shenzhen Fashion & Home Design Week, etc. Her practice is centered around the cultural tracing and typological treatment of phenomenal materials, combined with contemporary urban culture and life, and presented as a research tool. Her practice is centered on the cultural tracing and typology of phenomenal materials, combined with contemporary urban culture and life, and presented as a means of research through product design. In 2021, she founded MMR Studio, a product design studio in Shanghai, which is oriented to the research of living materials.
「Hana」Wine Cabinet
W1200×D580×H1690
American Maple, American Cherry
The Hana wine cabinet is inspired by the structure of the Mongolian yurt’s hana. By exploring the material possibilities of American maple and the spatial transformation between “nomadic and urban”, it creates a space that satisfies “guilty pleasure”.
In this work, each wooden strip is connected at hinge points, forming a diamond-shaped grid structure. The leather straps, as structural traces, are preserved, making the entire work a manifestation of a technical structure, presenting a “quasi-diamond” appearance. The traditional hana allows the yurt to fold like an accordion, facilitating quick assembly or disassembly during migrations. The Hana wine cabinet, designed by MMR Studio, focuses on the fluidity of this “temporary space” and applies it to the “enclosure” of the wine cabinet, reshaping it as a space with social attributes.
Video:
Echoes of Woods | Conversation x Product Designer Zhang Zhongyu