By Paul-Henri MATHA
When Andreas Froelich, DVN interior senior advisor visited IAA this year, he made a stop at Hyundai booth to have a look at Concept THREE that is showcasing what Hyundai vehicle will look like from 2027. In parallel to Concept THREE, Hyundai introduced the Furnished Lounge, a design experiment that reimagines comfort beyond the car.
DVN got the opportunity to catch up with Jihyun Song and her team at the Hyundai Namyang R&D Center this month to have a closer look at the project.
DVN Interior – Paul Henri Matha: So, Jihyun, tell us a bit more about your background in design?
Jihyun Song: I studied Industrial Design at Hongik University in Seoul, where I focused on transportation design. I also completed my master’s degree in product and transportation design at the same school, and later joined the RCA Vehicle Design PEP program in London. Those experiences helped me build a balanced perspective between industrial function and emotional storytelling in design.
DVN – I: When did you join Hyundai?
J.H: I joined Hyundai right after graduation in 2005 — so this year marks my 20th anniversary with the company. I spent about 17 years in the interior production design team before joining the Genesis Future Design Team two and a half years ago.
DVN – I: What is your role at the Hyundai Genesis Future Design Team?
J.H: Hyundai Genesis Future design team is composed of 20 designers who try to find new features and new technologies. For this dedicated project, our team was composed of 4 designers including me. I guided the overall direction and worked closely with related departments to connect the project’s next steps. But honestly, it was a very collaborative effort. The project was mainly driven by our designers, who brought passion and creativity to every detail. My role was to make sure their ideas could grow and align with our broader vision.
DVN – I: So tell us more about the Furnished Lounge project?
J.H: this was a 2 month projects. We wanted to create a living space, inspired by Concept THREE we just presented at IAA, with same colors, materials. As an example, we reuse same back seat metallic cover and exactly same CMF.
More than a seat, it’s a living-space object where natural materials, gentle forms, and intuitive usability come together—offering the feeling of being in your living room yet inspired by the philosophy of Art of Comfort. With the idea of “Bring Your Own Lifestyle”, it invites each person to shape the space in their own way. That is why we focus on the seat and the console.
Alongside, we presented Hyundai AddGear—an open-source accessory system that connects seamlessly across all Hyundai vehicles and opens the door for customers and partners to co-create their own lifestyle items.
The idea of this demo was to communicate with our customers and see their feedback. With AddGear we wanted to understand which idea we should implement into car interior. We got really good feedback from customer like Sunglass holder, cup holder, phone holder, tissue, trash bin or clip, and this is something we will think about for future cars.
For this accessory project, I took us one year, because we not only involved our design team but also R&D to define which accessory to include, and define usage testing. That needs more reflection and discussion.
DVN – I: Hyundai has earned a good reputation amongst designers for your bold design; this project is yet another one in a row of fantastic things you have done – where did you find the inspiration for this?
J.H: I usually get inspiration from people rather than objects. I observe how people sit, move, and interact with chairs — their gestures reveal what they need and what feels natural to them. Since the human body hasn’t changed for centuries, I also look at classic designs; sometimes older furniture feels more futuristic than the new ones.
DVN – I: Any specific furniture or furniture designers that you have as an inspiration?
J.H: : I prefer not to name a specific designer because this project isn’t about following someone’s style. Instead, I imagined a large single-seater sofa — something you can almost melt into. The goal was to design a seat that gives you the most complete sense of comfort and rest, which perfectly aligns with Hyundai’s design philosophy.
DVN – I: What was the design brief for this project?
J.H: indeed, it was quite simple. “Encourage to do something new. Key world was “big single sofa”. That is why we focused only on a 1-seat sofa this time. Will be extended to a 2 seat and 3 seats concept in the future.
DVN – I: Will you implement this concept into mass production?
J.H: not exactly, but some factors yes.
DVN – I: Anything specific you would like to mention regarding the CMF or choice of materials?
J.H: This seat is directly connected to Concept THREE. We wanted people to physically experience the same bright, positive atmosphere of that concept, so we used the same CMF. Every material was used in its most natural form — leather and steel were not overly treated but softly bent and folded to create organic shapes. It’s what we call the “Art of Comfort” — a design that looks and feels comfortable at the same time.
DVN – I: You included a dog in your furniture project. With NCAP marking. Can you explain why?
J.H: Hyundai is human centric. Family is really important for us. And the dog is part of the family. For Hyundai, Safety is key and our first priority. We take care of the whole family. Not only people but also animals like dogs.
We have developed some solutions on SANTA FE or INSTER for example, and we wanted to see that also in our furniture project
Our head of Design, Simon Loasby, is also a “dog friend”, it has its importance (joke).
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