Silver A' Design Award Winner 2025
Phan Van Tin's Zenta Collection Relaxation Table represents a remarkable synthesis of furniture design and contemplative spatial practice, drawing upon centuries-old traditions of meditative garden design while reimagining these principles for contemporary interior environments. The collection demonstrates sophisticated understanding of how domestic objects might transcend mere functionality to become instruments of psychological restoration and mindful engagement. The designer appears to explore the boundary between furniture and landscape architecture, creating pieces that function simultaneously as practical surfaces and miniature contemplative environments complete with the essential elements of traditional rock gardens including raked sand patterns, weathered stones, and the implied invitation to meditative practice. Technical accomplishment manifests in the refined profiles of the table forms themselves, where substantial pedestal bases achieve visual stability while maintaining elegant proportions, and tabletop surfaces accommodate both conventional use and integrated garden features with seamless resolution. The chromatic restriction to achromatic values honors the tradition of finding infinite variation within apparent simplicity, while the textural dialogue between smooth lacquered surfaces, rough natural stone, and fine granular sand creates sensory richness that rewards extended contemplation. The accompanying seating elements suggest organic forms that might emerge from natural processes, their spiraling surface patterns establishing visual rhyme with the raked sand while offering yielding comfort in counterpoint to the tables' geometric certainty. One might observe how the composition positions these objects not merely as furniture but as catalysts for a particular quality of domestic experience oriented toward stillness, presence, and aesthetic appreciation. What aspects of daily ritual might be transformed when functional objects invite such sustained meditative attention?
Zenta is a collection of Zen tea tables designed to embody the unique essence of Japanese Dry Garden art. This design project prioritizes a novel experience, offering users not just a tea table but also an interactive element: raking sand to meditate and find inner peace. The collection's aesthetic draws inspiration from the imagery of rocks and waves, creating a miniature natural landscape that enhances the unique tea-drinking experience.