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AART. AT Design

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Interviews with AART. AT Design

Read the interviews with AART. AT Design: understand their philosophy, creative process and award-winning work.

Designer Profile

Design Legend Interview

14 questions

Design for me has always meant the creation of new ways of looking at things. It's a way of looking at life differently. This is the total motivation for me.

Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?

4 years architecture study in China, and 5 years in Paris.

What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

Design for me has always meant the creation of new ways of looking at things. It's a way of looking at life differently. This is the total motivation for me.

Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

We choose to be architect, it's wonderful

What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

Architecture, light design for buildings and landscape. All types of architecture or space always have an interesting story. If one is urged to choose among them, perhaps architecture related to art, history and nature.

What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

Try to develop it in maximum depth. For architecture, traveling is essential and allows young designers to understand life and the essentials in architecture.

What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?

In my opinion, a great designer can be distinguished from other designers by his special "magic". It could be translated by his sensations or creations, as an artist, regardless of the technique.

What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?

For me, a good design in architecture is a good understanding of the history of the place itself, the users, and from there, establish its own logic.

Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?

Álvaro Siza, Herzog & De Meuron

How does design help create a better society?

In the life of our society, there are always negative points, complexities... Not only can design improve the quality of life, the bottom line is that it allows people to see "elsewhere", and to watch life differently, and help people overcome difficult moments in life.

Where do you think the design field is headed next?

- I think that in the near future, an evolution will occur towards an individual design. Thanks to NTIC (new technologies of information and communications), also to globalization, the difference between an expert and an individual is reduced enormously. Every individual now has access to professional information, tools, and knowledge. In addition, the individualization of lifestyle is developing at a high speed. The next step in the design will probably be to move great power to the hand of each individual, as in other areas.

What kind of design software and equipment do you use in your work?

We use a variety of softwares and equipmentx ranging from concenpt sketching and drawing, to 3D softwares such as Rhinoceros, Sketchup.

As well as the Adobe programs.

For the lighting design, the software dialux is also used for lighting configuration.

V-ray is also highly used in our agency.

What is the role of the color, materials and ambient in design?

It is difficult to judge these elements separately. the color is related to the reflection of the material, the color is reflected differently on each material. The Ambience is the result of all this.

It is all of these elements that form the final moods, and that diaogue with users and visitors, in time and space.

When you see a new great design or product what comes into your mind?

I will be very interested to know the process that led to this design, what is the idea and research behind.

What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?

Color: Indigo

Place: Mountains

Food: Desserts

Season: Autumn

Thing:Travel

Brand: BoConcept

Designer Interview

18 questions

We would like to rethink the actions of people in order to be able to redesign the features of the projects, and at the same time provide a pleasant surroundings.

Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?

We would like to rethink the actions of people in order to be able to redesign the features of the projects, and at the same time provide a pleasant surroundings.

Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?

AART. AT originated in Paris, and based in Shanghai, China, is a professional design company, combining both French and chineses cultures, engaged in architectural design, urban planning, lighting design, real estate planning, industry consulting and research. Specialized in commercial real estate, Urban complexes, public building, medical building and architectural lighting design projects, and has accumulated a large number of projects throughout the world related to these practices. With the design philosophy of the team, “design leads life, design creates value”, AART.AT is well recognized by many clients. It works together with many government platforms and well-known domestic and foreign real estate companies. The company has won over a dozen of international architecture awards during its 10 years experiences in France and in China such as “The American Architecture Prize “, “A+ AWARDS”, Shanghai young architect award, “180m³CUBE”, “Architecture et Structure en Acier,”, “Eiffel Prize”….

What is "design" for you?

Solve real problems and create great experiences throughout pertinent methods.

What kinds of works do you like designing most?

Through the design of space, change the way of people's behavior, stimulate people's new cognition of space

What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?

there is no one favorite design for me. and i appreciate all the design who touche people from a deep level of sensibility and rationality

What was the first thing you designed for a company?

architecture design for a Science and technology museum

Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?

The relationship between space and human behavior, and how to find design concepts between sensibility and logic.

What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?

When designing, i forget myself and all the surrounding. Each time when I find a good concept that expresses well what I want, I’m extremely excited

What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?

Excitement and pride

What makes a design successful?

A good cooperation between all the participants.

When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?

If it adapts well to the situation, responds well to any concerns. And if it is able to stimulate people’s emotions and imagination.

From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?

An essential part of design is to be able to "improve" people’s lives and to guide them to think differently about how to live. So, a good designer must face great social and environmental demands.

How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?

The future design will mainly meet the increasing individualization of our lifestyles, as well as interacting with new technologies.

Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?

Often, it comes from our feelings of the five senses during the experience in nature. Because, as a human, I always believe that sensations are stimulated throughout our senses.

Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?

I lived half of my life in China and then in Paris, France. Surely, the Chinese cultural heritage is deeply inscribed in me. In addition, it was during my stay in Paris, with such a distance, that I was able to better understand the difference between Chinese and French culture, in order to finally understand both of them

What is your "golden rule" in design?

be logic and sensitive at the same time

Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?

we are a architecture design team, engaged in architecture design, interior design and lighting design

How can people contact you?

liuyan@at-design.vip , or tel: 0086- 189 1899 1096

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Data Source

The designer interview questions and answers published in our interview page with AART. AT Design come from Designer Interviews, the international platform where world's top designers, star architects, creators and innovators are interviewed.