The STEM & VINE tufted rug collection was developed in collaboration with lifestyle design brand Rock Scissors Paper. RSP approached us to propose a product that could establish a clear center within a space, leading to a process of joint design and development.
Rock Scissors Paper (hereafter RSP) wanted to develop a spatially assertive object capable of influencing a relatively large area, with a distinctly painterly character. As RSP focuses on products with a strong point of view for a distinctive and niche audience, we also chose to begin the project from one clear and decisive idea.
The project began with our observation that the once relatively fixed layout of Korean residential interiors is rapidly diversifying. Through a period of accelerated economic growth, apartment living became widespread in Korea and established itself as a dominant form of housing. Although apartments vary by region and developer, their architectural planning remains remarkably similar. In parallel with the growth of an electronics-led manufacturing industry, the Korean living room became increasingly standardized around a familiar arrangement: the television and the sofa.
We saw this structure beginning to change. The introduction of products such as The Serif TV, the rise of OTT services, and the growing number of single-person households have contributed to a more fragmented and diverse understanding of domestic space. As the television moves away from the wall and becomes increasingly mobile, the question of where a sofa should face—and what it should ultimately serve—becomes less fixed. We considered its more fundamental role to be that of bringing people together, and proposed the rug as an accessory that could support this function.
To express both adapting to an existing layout and breaking away from it through a single formal language, we took the stem and vine as our motif. While the functional character of a rug is largely defined by its material, we considered its form equally capable of influencing how a space is used.
The collection therefore explores two conditions: a stem that extends freely in response to its surroundings, and a stem that grows into a geometric form as if constrained by an invisible framework. Through these contrasting expressions, STEM & VINE is intended to resonate with different ways of organizing domestic space, creating a stronger relationship between the rug, the furniture, and the layout around it.