Gyungju Chyon and John Sadar are co-founders of little wonder. The interdisciplinary design studio explores alternative ways of considering ecological issues by focusing on the relationships between designed things, environments, and people. Through engaging natural phenomena and experimenting with materiality, Little Wonder is interested in delving beyond technological performance, seeking deeper and more meaningful connections with our world.
Interpolates between installations and product design, Little Wonder has collaborated with international companies such as Rosenthal (DEU), Interface (USA), Duravit (DEU), Emotis (FRA), and Lucifer Lighting (USA). The work has been internationally awarded, exhibited at various venues in Europe, America and Asia, and published in academic conferences, journals and books.
Gyungju Chyon is a lecturer in Design department at Monash University in Melbourne. Prior to Monash, she was an assistant professor of MFA Industrial Design and BFA Product and at Parsons School of Design in New York. She also taught industrial design at the School of Architecture and Design at RMIT University in Melbourne, industrial design at University of the Arts and furniture design at Moore College of Art, both in Philadelphia, and consulted in furniture design in Helsinki.
She earned a BA in industrial design from Hong-Ik University in Seoul, and a MA in furniture and interior architecture design from University of Art and Design Helsinki (Aalto University) in Finland. Since her masters degree, she has been involved in teaching, practicing and fostering young designers.
She was formerly the director of Melbourne Movement, an organization that represents and annually exhibits Melbourne's best young designers at the Salone Del Mobile in Milan, and was a board member of Craft Victoria, a gallery and craft support organization in Melbourne.
John Stanislav Sadar is the director of Architecture program at the Swinburne Institute of Technology. Previously, he taught Interior Design at Parsons School of Design in New York, was Senior Lecturer in Architectural Technology and Design in the Department of Architecture at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and lecturer in Architecture in University of Melbourne.
He completed undergraduate studies at McGill University in Montréal, postgraduate studies at the Teknillinen Korkeakoulu in Helsinki, and his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He has worked in private practice with firms in Finland, Slovenia, Canada, and the United States.
He is concerned with the performative, ecological role of the built environment, with particular interest in how sensory technologies, biological materials and environmental energies intermingle in the built environment to create rich experiences that forge deep connections with the world around us.
