In the world of design, “function” has long been measured by usefulness: the ability to support a load, to house an object, or to fit a space. But in a time when many feel detached from themselves, their spaces, and their routines, a more urgent question emerges:
How does it make us feel?As the great Italian artist and furniture designer Enzo Mari taught us, design is never just form, and never just function. It is a process of meaning.Survey 03: FORM FOLLOWS FEELINGS explores how form carries emotion. How material, proportion, and presence shape memory, affection, and daily experience. This is not research into furniture made for function alone, but a closer examination of furniture made in the service of life.Human feeling is expressed through everyday acts. How we sit, listen, gather, and rest. These moments are shaped not only by culture, but by the spaces and objects that support them.Music is one of the most direct expressions of human emotion. Yet the space in which we listen, and the furniture and speakers within it, are equally vital in shaping the experience. Devon Turnbull has dedicated his work to expressing the natural, emotional essence of music. Similarly, Karimoku Furniture products only come fully to life when they exist alongside people. They are not objects to be observed from a distance, but forms meant to be experienced, resonating with the rhythms of music, film, and daily living.Through this exhibition born from their mutual resonance, Survey 03 examines how emotion is sublimated into form. We observe the invisible threads that run between the materials, the makers, and the daily lives of the users. If form regulates the way we live, shouldn’t feelings too be an indispensable part of the related function?