NCKU students design bean bag chairs for a creative co-living space

By Sonia Selavy

A total of 20 bean bag chairs designed by students from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) are perfect addition to the school’s Creative Innovation Entrepreneurial (CIE) Center co-living space where students interested in learning about entrepreneurship live.

The co-living space has three distinct areas: 20 rooms, each with 3 beds for both female and male students; two long corridors; and one common living area.

“We decided to create a series of CIE bean bags, which the students can move around the three spaces, use for rest and assemble for group play and exploration,” said Prof. Yen-Ting Cho from the Institute of Creative Industries Design (ICID) who led the students to design the chairs.

A workshop kicked off in early November and more than 20 students involved and inspired to create their own bean bag chairs.

Prof. Cho, who is also an artist and designer, encouraged the students to design their own form of bean bags and create their own colorful surface from his design of ‘YTC’ patterns.

“For me, besides the great teamwork, the workshop was most rewarding because every participant, including myself, experienced something new by challenging our creative and collaborative limitations,” Cho said.

Rachel Chang who is a designer and guest instructor in the workshop noted, “I designed the workshop to include structure analysis, shape development, pattern cutting and conceptual communication.”

“Through the design exercise, I hoped students would learn to translate their thoughts into a design and, moreover, apply their designs and realize them as products,” added Chang.

Cho and Chang had the students to interact with and use their bean bags and documented the result through photos and videos during the final workshop in December.

Shu-Ting Yeh, a students from ICID, who is one of the four assistants in the student team, said, “I learned that, to achieve the outcome we want, we cannot give up any possibility at any stage.”

Another assistant Yi-Bei Liu from ICID shares her happiness saying, “Learning by doing was the most inspiring part of the whole process.”

Talking about his experience, Yu-Ting Li emphasized the fruitful outcome and said, “Even the simplest design is full of detail.”

“The bean bag making process was very challenging, but we made it eventually,” said Chong-Bin Su, one of the participants.

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1/14 下午四點的懶骨頭發表會，歡迎大家一起來與參與者面對面聊懶骨頭! 1/14 Thursday: Bean Bag presentation at NCKU Art Center at 4pm. Please visit to have a chat directly with us and the participants!