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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 school students to carpenters — spent two days at a warehouse on Amtae Island, Shinan County, creating works that were then exhibited at Donuimun Museum Village in Seoul and donated to the community.
Challenge
A company Slack message revealed that 1,000+ damaged furniture items would be bulk-discarded from the warehouse. "It's such a waste to throw away perfectly usable furniture" sparked the proposal. Not a donation-check CSR, but a project rooted in the company's own business — furniture — with a real story to tell.
Approach
1
Visited the warehouse to assess discarded furniture firsthand; found the DECAL Cooperative with past upcycling experience to kick off the project2
Chose a former rice warehouse repurposed as a brewery — a space whose own story aligned with the upcycling ethos3
30+ participants — elementary school students, carpenters, media artists, and street art painters — created approximately 30 works over two days4
Seoul's Donuimun Museum Village exhibition "Ohouse, Life of Tomorrow" (December 27, 2022 – March 19, 2023) — hackathon works displayed alongside pieces by artists Naul, Hoehwa Yuhi, and Kim Kyung-su5
After the exhibition, all works donated in full to a repurposed school, small libraries, and children's welfare facilities in Shinan CountyOutcome
✓
Approximately 30 upcycled works created — bicycle racks, infinity mirror tables, tidal flat drawer units, all one-of-a-kind pieces✓
After 3 months of free exhibition, all works donated to Shinan; the value of resource circulation proven through story✓
Introduced in media as Korea's first large-scale furniture upcycling hackathon; established as the company's inaugural CSR caseTags
CSREventPlanningLocalGovernmentCollaborationUpcyclingExhibition