Spatial Practice
Internship
Spatial Design
Installation | Maquette
Architectural Design
Spatial Design
Digital Space |
Virtual Reality
©2026 SeungEon Kang
©2026 SeungEon Kang
What if I could bring and carry my home with me, and put it in a new house I moved into? Then, that portable home would help me to get grounded in the new house.
As spatial distance in the contemporary world is compressed and the spaces become indistinct by mass-production, housing spaces are rarely perceived as a true home. The traditional sense of home as a reflection of identity is being lost.
I aim to create a bookcase that can become a portable small home. It preserves identity by containing personal items and, by doing so, adds a sense of belonging in unfamiliar houses. The practice shows how the bookcase can be realized as a portable home through tactile materials and symbolic forms.
A series of bookcases proposes fictional ideas that view the bookcase as a new concept of home. Both a bookcase and a house represent the “self” by containing and protecting personal stories and identities.
Each section gives a short story illustrating how the bookcase transforms into a “portable home”, focusing on how it can become as portable and personal as the concept of home itself.
▷ Subject: Portable Home
A suitcase travels the world, filled with all kinds of items that reflect its owner’s personality. His friend “bookcase” had long admired the suitcase’s freedom. How handy to carry and portable to move. Even though both store personal items, they lived very different lives.
Eventually, the bookcase made up his mind to imitate the suitcase’s appearance to escape his constraints. He added wheels under his body and a telescopic handle to his back.
With his new accessories, the bookcase is no longer a passive object. He has become an active companion in every room.
Eventually, the bookcase made up his mind to imitate the suitcase’s appearance to escape his constraints. He added wheels under his body and a telescopic handle to his back.
With his new accessories, the bookcase is no longer a passive object. He has become an active companion in every room.
▷ Subject: Portable Home
Backpacks and bookcases. Helmets and bookcases. What do these things have in common? Is it possible for a bookcase to become a backpack or a helmet?
Both a backpack and a bookcase store and protect personal belongings. So why not use the bookcase like a backpack? By simply attaching shoulder straps and a lifting handle, it functions just like a bag. Now, wear your new bookcase and store your items in it!
Both a helmet and a bookcase protect something important, covering items from dust or any environmental hazards. Why not use the bookcase as a helmet? It can protect something important, like your skull or attractive items. You can even carry your bookcase by wearing it on your head, storing your gear inside the bookcase.
Wear your new bookcase to protect and carry something important to you!
Both a backpack and a bookcase store and protect personal belongings. So why not use the bookcase like a backpack? By simply attaching shoulder straps and a lifting handle, it functions just like a bag. Now, wear your new bookcase and store your items in it!
Both a helmet and a bookcase protect something important, covering items from dust or any environmental hazards. Why not use the bookcase as a helmet? It can protect something important, like your skull or attractive items. You can even carry your bookcase by wearing it on your head, storing your gear inside the bookcase.
Wear your new bookcase to protect and carry something important to you!
▷ Subject: Portable Home
Are you someone who isn’t a fan of reading e-books, but also hates carrying heavy books in your hands? In the future, flying bookcases will solve this problem.
The flying bookcase follows you wherever you go without needing a single command. It automatically hovers nearby, matching your every movement.
Enjoy the feel of reading real books anywhere with the convenience of a flying bookcase!
The flying bookcase follows you wherever you go without needing a single command. It automatically hovers nearby, matching your every movement.
Enjoy the feel of reading real books anywhere with the convenience of a flying bookcase!
▷ Subject: Portable Home
The project “Portable Home” creates a tactile medium for identity by conceptualizing the bookcase as a symbolic small-scale home. This intervention allows the individual to transport their personal history into the anonymous houses.
The finalized bookcase is designed to be easily assembled and disassembled like modular toys for the convenience of transport as a portable home.
▷ Material: Grenen KD OS (Pine Wood)
Pine is a softwood. It changes and ages with scratches, nicks, and dents. The marks and the color of the wood will even out and change over time, contributing to the history of the bookcase that reflects identity.
Assembly/Disassembly Instructions