Designer Spotlight – Yuchen Wu

For Yuchen Wu, design has always been rooted in her surroundings. Growing up on the east coast of Taiwan, she found herself between mountain and sea—landscapes that still inspire the way she approaches form, storytelling, and the role of objects in daily life. “Being able to immerse myself in nature, culture and architecture inspires me to create objects that bring people joy,” she explains.

Her perspective on design is one of balance: finding the meeting point between art and function, between beauty and use. For Yuchen, each object carries a story, one that continues to unfold as it moves through spaces and into people’s lives. A chair, for instance, is never static—it becomes a companion in the everyday, shaped by touch, memory, and interaction.

Over time, her practice has evolved from rigor to relaxation. “My approach is more relaxed than before,” she says. Where she once viewed design as something to be held at a distance, she now believes objects should live alongside us, becoming part of our routines and our stories. Her design philosophy reflects this shift: to create objects that people cherish and pass down—pieces that hold meaning not just for today, but for generations to come.

Yuchen describes herself as “a storyteller through objects and images rather than words.” That storytelling often begins in unexpected places: in workshops, in conversations with craftsmen, in the simple act of watching a sketch transform into something tangible. “There is something deeply satisfying about seeing a product take shape—from an initial sketch to the finished piece,” she reflects.

Her home reflects the same sense of narrative layering. A retro flea market find sits next to a contemporary design object; a century-old wooden chair reclaimed from a recycling center coexists with something new. Each piece carries a history, and together they form a dialogue across time. Moreover, Yuchen’s personal interior style draws inspiration from Alvar Aalto’s home, where she experienced firsthand how even the smallest details—interiors, furniture, objects—were infused with care and intent.

Daily rituals ground her practice, too. Cooking, for example, is more than sustenance; it’s a process of slowing down, preparing carefully, and enjoying each step. Travel has also shaped her outlook, not always in the traditional sense. She recalls an evening in Kyoto, sharing a meal with a sushi chef who had never left the city in 30 years of running his restaurant. Behind him hung a world map, dotted with places marked by his customers’ origins. “Through this story, I learned that there are many ways to see the world and live,” she reflects. “The sushi chef seldom traveled himself, but he traveled through the stories of his guests.”

For Yuchen Wu, design is a way of capturing those stories—of bringing people closer to moments, memories, and meaning through the objects that surround them.

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