ASUS | NICEWORKSHOP

For Design You Can Feel, an exhibition curated by Dezeen for ASUS at the London Design Festival 2025, Korean studio Niceworkshop worked with the upcycling brand Format to rethink how industrial materials can be used. Their collaboration turns aluminium formwork once used in skyscraper construction into long-lasting furniture. This shift shows how materials normally seen as functional can gain new life. For me, working as a DoP based in Seoul, the project offered a chance to create a design film and show how design thinking can change the meaning of industrial resources.

The exhibition also introduces Ceraluminum, a ceramicised aluminium now used in ASUS Zenbook laptops. As a result, the show highlights how technology and design can support each other. In addition, Ceraluminum combines tactile qualities with strong structural performance. Niceworkshop created a new furniture piece coated in this material. Through this, visitors can see how Ceraluminum can reshape everyday objects. Together with Format’s upcycling work, the exhibition places the material within a broader story about innovation, sustainability, and long-term use.

As the director and cinematographer, I filmed the work at Niceworkshop’s studio in Seoul. In this role, I focused on each step of their process – from raw materials to the final pieces. This approach helped show how craft and experimentation guide their design decisions. The film also links their work to ASUS’s use of Ceraluminum. By doing so, it shows how ideas of durability and refinement appear in both furniture and consumer technology.

Finally, by capturing the workspace, tools, prototypes, and completed pieces, the film gives viewers a clearer sense of how material innovation shapes design today. In the end, Niceworkshop, Format, and ASUS show how creative collaboration can give industrial materials new purpose and support a shared focus on longevity and careful production.

DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

NILS CLAUSS

PRODUCTION

A DEZEEN PRODUCTION