Designer: Iris Pham

Dates: January 9 to March 6, 2026

Deliverables: Furniture Prototype

Materials: Cherry Wood with Osmo Polyx-Oil Satin Finish, and Crocheted Seating

Instructor: Tim Antoniuk

Overview

Quây Quần is a stool that reflects the warmth of shared meals and the quiet rituals of everyday family life. The name, meaning “gathering” in Vietnamese, speaks to moments of togetherness that shaped my childhood,where my family would sit on plastic stools instead of dining chairs, gathering closely around meals. These experiences became a foundation for the design, informing both its form and emotional intention. Rather than recreating the stool directly, Quây Quần reinterprets it through material, proportion, and detail, translating memory into a whimsical piece of furniture.

The stool combines cherry wood and crocheted yarn to express both structure and softness. The turned wooden legs reference the beaded curtains commonly found in Vietnamese homes in the early 2000s, while the crocheted seat reflects my long-standing relationship with craft. Together, these elements create a balance between stability and comfort, between permanence and change. As both materials age through use, the stool is intended to grow alongside its user, carrying traces of everyday life. Through this piece, I aim to create more than a functional object, it becomes a holder for memory, care, and the enduring warmth of gathering under one roof.