Award-Winning Interior Design Blending Cinema, Material, and Space
- WODACC
- 17 hours ago
- 4 min read
At the Future Art & Design Award 2025 Winter Season, YUN-YIH Design Company, led by Design Director Chung-Lin Lee, received the Diamond Prize — Best Design of the Season, the competition’s highest honor, for the interior design project Carving Land.
Positioned at the intersection of spatial narrative, cinematic thinking, and material experimentation, Carving Land reflects a practice that resists conventional definitions of interior design. Rather than treating space as a fixed container, Lee approaches it as a performative medium—one that evolves through perspective, perception, and lived experience. Drawing inspiration from cinema, scenography, and philosophical dualities, the project constructs an environment where light, material, and movement converge into a layered, almost narrative-driven spatial language.
Below, Chung-Lin Lee shares insights into his creative philosophy, process, and reflections on the evolving future of design.
Interview
Q: Please give us a brief introduction about yourself and your creative background.
Chung-Lin:
I am Chung-Lin Lee, based in Taiwan, and currently the founder and Design Director of YUN-YIH Design. Rather than defining myself strictly as an “interior designer” by professional title, I see my practice as a form of multi-role performance, with space as the stage. I move fluidly between the roles of proposer, strategist, executor, audience, storyteller, and even scene director. Through this constant shifting of perspectives, I aim to infuse spaces with deeper consciousness and renewed sensory vitality beyond their formal aesthetics.
Q: What inspired you to pursue a career in creative / art / design?
Chung-Lin:
From my early days in technical drafting to my current practice in interior design, there has always been a sense of fate guiding my path. Since entering the profession, I have been particularly drawn to—perhaps even instinctively skilled at—embedding fragmentary, progressive scenographic narratives within space. This approach inevitably traces back to my most profound muse: cinema. Especially genres such as science fiction, psychological thrillers, and surreal mysteries. The narratives, cinematography, and soundscapes of these films are translated into spatial experiences that vary from person to person, yet cohesively integrate lighting, color modulation, mixed materials, volumetric layering, and movable furnishings—forming a unique three-dimensional compositional art.
Q: Can you describe the creative process behind your work and what motivates you to create?
Chung-Lin:
I agree that space is the vessel of home—a container that enriches daily life. However, this does not mean it must obey rigid conventions, such as fixed circulation paths, trend-driven aesthetics, or homogenized design logic. By first establishing a portfolio that diverges from mainstream market norms, I naturally attract clients who are conceptually aligned, culturally attuned, and economically capable. Within this shared understanding, each project becomes an opportunity to introduce site-specific and user-specific narratives and imagery. Over time, every creation feels like embarking on a non-repeatable adventure—an experience that keeps my creative drive fully charged, allowing me to passionately build each project from zero to one.
Q: What was the most exciting or challenging part of creating the work you submitted to the competition?
Chung-Lin:
Within Asian cultural contexts—deeply shaped by tradition, customs, and regional norms—any form of innovation or unconventional thinking often faces instinctive resistance, particularly in residential design influenced by Confucian and Taoist values. Thus, the greatest challenge lies in communication: crafting a compelling narrative that elevates the client’s expectations and allows them to embrace the proposal with both confidence and excitement.
For this competition entry, I was fortunate to receive complete trust and support from the client. This allowed my team and me to fully explore our ideas at every stage and refine every detail to its utmost potential. That sense of fulfilment is, honestly, far more rewarding than financial gain.
Q: How would you describe your creative style and the key characteristics that define your work?
Chung-Lin:
Looking back at my early works, I often referenced the Dogme 95 Manifesto, initiated in 1995 by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, as a conceptual foundation. Its emphasis on purity, rawness, and the de-prioritization of technical embellishment stood in direct contrast to the prevailing luxury-oriented market. This tension gradually evolved into what I consider a personal aesthetic of contradiction: low-key materials executed with exquisite craftsmanship; minimalist block compositions enriched by layered light and shadow; spaces that appear rugged yet are inherently refined—quiet, yet powerfully resonant.
I find this duality especially compelling because space, to me, is a living entity—capable of breathing, possessing personality and consciousness, and therefore resistant to being confined by time or stylistic labels. Crucially, regardless of how experimental the concept may be, I never compromise on user comfort, functionality, or everyday convenience across both commercial and residential projects.
Q: What has been your experience participating in the competition? Were you satisfied with the process and results?
Chung-Lin:
No matter how outstanding a project may be, it still requires the fortune of being seen. Receiving the Future Art & Design Award UK Diamond Prize, the competition’s highest honor, has been immensely encouraging—not only for my team and myself, but also for future potential clients.
Beyond its academic rigor, professionalism, and fairness, FADA provides a platform where excellence converges at the highest level. It allows me to speak to the world through my work and continue exploring the limitless possibilities of spatial art.
Q: Where do you see the future of the art and design industry heading in the next 5–10 years?
Chung-Lin:
Art, as a uniquely human construct, has always fascinated me through its balance between certainty and uncertainty. When design intersects with human safety, environmental sustainability, and mass production, professional rigor becomes indispensable. Yet art itself should never have thresholds—anything perceived, felt, or touched as beautiful can belong to the realm of art.
Looking ahead to the next five to ten years, the rapid evolution of materials and construction methods, combined with the widespread integration of AI and biomimetic intelligence, will undoubtedly introduce more diverse and transformative possibilities to interior design.
Carving Land ultimately reveals that space is not merely inhabited—it is experienced, interpreted, and continuously redefined. It is within this tension—between material and perception—that new forms of spatial expression begin to emerge.
It also reminds us that interior design, at its most compelling, is not about form—but about consciousness.
