{"id":1031403,"date":"2026-06-17T02:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T02:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1031403\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T02:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T02:03:31","slug":"childrens-imaginations-run-wild-in-taekhan-yuns-collaborative-design-workshops-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1031403\/","title":{"rendered":"Children&#8217;s Imaginations Run Wild in Taekhan Yun&#8217;s Collaborative Design Workshops \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/taekhannn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Taekhan Yun<\/a>\u2019s parents run an English school in Cambodia. One day, during a visit, he noticed how the kids were constantly shifting in their chairs, trying to get comfortable. \u201cIt made me realize how naturally furniture and spaces are designed around adult standards, while children are often expected to adapt and conform to those environments,\u201d he tells Colossal. That\u2019s when the idea was born to not only create functional pieces that would better suit the students\u2019 needs but to invite them to create their own.<\/p>\n<p>Yun has always been interested in participatory creative projects, especially because of \u201cthe unexpected outcomes that emerge when people from different backgrounds come together to create something collectively,\u201d he says. \u201cChildren, in particular, tend to view objects with a freedom that is less constrained by function, convention, or rules. Their choices and interventions often transform not only the final result but also the process itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-3.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1459\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-3.jpg\" alt=\"a series of colorful, whimsical birdhouse designs conceived by children and created by Taekhan Yun\" class=\"wp-image-475112\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Through a series of hands-on workshops, Yun invited the children to conceive of whimsical chairs and birdhouses, first by inviting them to draw with colored pencils and then sculpt prototypes out of clay. The artist then fashioned their dream designs into full-scale wooden objects that exactly translate their ideas. The result is a joyful and inviting collection of functional artworks that celebrate community. Each object is lovely on its own, but when gathered with its peers, the group is even more vibrant and inspirational, much like the way ideas can expand and evolve through brainstorming and learning.<\/p>\n<p>Yun plans to continue presenting similar workshops and is currently coordinating a couple in South Korea and Saudi Arabia. \u201cWorking with children has gradually shifted my focus from the final objects themselves to the ways children perceive, imagine, and interpret the world around them,\u201d he says. \u201cI hope to expand the chair project internationally in the near future by collaborating with children from different cultural and social backgrounds around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>See more on the artist\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/taekhannn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-5.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1775\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-5.jpg\" alt=\"five children hold up whimsical birdhouses that they designed\" class=\"wp-image-475114\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-7.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-7.jpg\" alt=\"a child draws a birdhouse design with colored pencils\" class=\"wp-image-475106\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-10.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\" title=\"Birdhouse prototypes sculpted by children\" data-rl_title=\"Birdhouse prototypes sculpted by children\" data-rl_caption=\"Birdhouse prototypes sculpted by children\" data-rl_><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-10.jpg\" alt=\"a large number of clay prototypes of whimsical birdhouses\" class=\"wp-image-475109\"  \/><\/a>Birdhouse prototypes sculpted by children<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-1.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2089\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-1.jpg\" alt=\"a series of colorful, whimsical chair designs conceived by children and created by Taekhan Yun\" class=\"wp-image-475110\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-6.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-6.jpg\" alt=\"a child draws a whimsical chair design with colored pencils\" class=\"wp-image-475115\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-2.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-2.jpg\" alt=\"children run around a series of colorful, whimsical chair designs conceived by children and created by Taekhan Yun\" class=\"wp-image-475111\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-9.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-9.jpg\" alt=\"a large number of clay prototypes of whimsical chairs\" class=\"wp-image-475108\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-8.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-475105\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/yun-8.jpg\" alt=\"a series of colorful, whimsical birdhouses conceived by children and created by Taekhan Yun, installed in a tree\" class=\"wp-image-475107\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do stories and artists like this matter to you?<\/strong> Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"118516\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colossal Member<\/a> now, and support independent arts publishing.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hide advertising<\/li>\n<li>Save your favorite articles<\/li>\n<li>Get 15% off in the <a href=\"https:\/\/colossal.shop\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colossal Shop<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Receive members-only newsletter<\/li>\n<li>Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Designer Taekhan Yun\u2019s parents run an English school in Cambodia. One day, during a visit, he noticed how&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1031404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,284623,29242,26071,5554,4022,2266,77,29234,284624,16,15,25296,136202],"class_list":["post-1031403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-birdhouses","tag-chairs","tag-childhood","tag-community","tag-design","tag-education","tag-entertainment","tag-furniture","tag-taekhan-yun","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wood","tag-woodworking"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116762996604231214","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1031404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1031403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1031403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}