YUAN Tableware.
A series of primary interviews with families across generations reviewed that the significance of object varies according to the time spent and the experiences shared with the object. There is a dilution in inheritance of objects as they are believed to be superstitions, old and traditional looking and the functionality of the object is an important in creating emotional attachment with the object. Hence, an heirloom has to carry a cultural value, have a timeless aesthetics, and be functional as well as durable to enable emotional attachment to be formed with the heirloom.
Since the Confucian times, family has always been an important aspect of the Chinese culture. Primary observation has reviewed that many objects kept by the family are milestone markers, evidence of filial piety and memories of the family. The dining table is where families spend substantial amount of time together. Mealtime, beyond just filling the stomach, is an important platform for communication and bonding within the family. It is also a platform where non-verbal sentiments of affection are being delivered, making the tableware an important vessel for enabling and facilitating bonding across family members.
YUAN Tableware aims to instil and impart the value and importance of family bonding by encouraging shared experiences between family members of different generations over meal times. When YUAN Tableware is used within the family during meal times, a shared dining experience is created between parents and children. Parents can pass down the YUAN tableware to their children when they form their own families, enabling new shared dining experience to created, It is through the memories of eating together with the family that the value and importance of family is conveyed to the next generation.
Just like how two parents and a child form the most basic structure of a family, YUAN Tableware is a set of three dish plates designed based on the amalgamation of three circles. In the Chinese culture, the circle depicts unity, perfection and oneness. It is also a universal symbol of infinity and timelessness. Handmade using granite clay, each dish plate is a timeless piece of unique shape and grain texture, symbolizing that each family member is exclusive, but they complement one another and come together as one.
YUAN Tableware with packaging.
Union is depicted via the combination of 3 dish plates, forming 360 degrees.
