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CSR · Event Planning2022

Furniture Upcycling Hackathon

Korea's first large-scale furniture upcycling hackathon. Using furniture damaged in transit and slated for disposal, 30+ participants — from elementary students to carpenters — spent two days at a warehouse on Amtae Island, Shinan creating pieces. They were exhibited at Donuimun Museum Village in Seoul, then donated to the community.

View Project ↗Hackathon videoExhibition pageNewsroom press release

Challenge

A Slack message revealed that 1,000+ damaged furniture items would be bulk-discarded from the warehouse. "It's such a waste" sparked a proposal. Not a donation-check CSR, but a project rooted in the company's own business, with a real story to tell.

Approach

1
Visited the warehouse to assess discarded furniture, found the DECAL cooperative with upcycling experience to kick things off
2
Chose a former rice warehouse repurposed as a brewery — a space that matched the upcycling ethos
3
30+ participants — elementary students, carpenters, media artists, street art painters — created 23 pieces over two days
4
Seoul's Donuimun Museum Village exhibition "Ohouse, Life of Tomorrow" (Dec 27, 2022 – Mar 19, 2023) — hackathon works displayed alongside pieces by artists Naul, Hoehwa Yuhi, Kim Kyung-su
5
After exhibition, all works donated to repurposed school buildings, small libraries, and children's welfare facilities in Shinan

Outcome

23 upcycled pieces created — bicycle racks, infinity mirror tables, tidal flat drawer units, all one-of-a-kind
After 3 months of free exhibition, all pieces donated to Shinan; proved the value of resource circulation through story
Introduced in media as Korea's first large-scale furniture upcycling hackathon; established as the company's first CSR case

Tags

CSREvent PlanningLocal Government CollaborationUpcyclingExhibition
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