Interviewe mat Lip Chiong - Studio Twist

When I was still in school, I wanted to be an artist. I always had many ideas of things I want to build, or visions that I want to draw, or thoughts and feelings I want to express. Then I went to architecture school, simply thinking that architecture as the “mother of all arts” will satisfy my urges. It did, and more, steered me into the realm of design. To me, one fundamental difference is that most Art has an elevated sense of purpose dealing with questions about humanity but is actually low on functionality and usefulness, whilst vice versa, most architecture uses its functionality to justify its reason for being, but rarely addresses deeper questions about what humanity can be. I hope we will be able to create designs that are high on both aspects.

When I have new ideas and see ways to improve or doing things differently, I am motivated to design.

My team Studio Twist is an integrated architecture and interior design firm focused on the creation of one-of-a-kind buildings and spatial environments that enhance the character and identity of place for our design-minded clients.

Design cannot do everything or solve every problem, so when debating what is good design and what is not as good, it is important to evaluate the results in terms of the starting ambitions of the project, whether the ambition is appropriately set, and whether the results fulfil those objectives. Great design, however, transcends its functional objectives, and starts to breathe of new possibilities never seen or experienced before.

Good design are solutions to problems that may not even be explicit or noticed, or that become a thing of the past because of their existence. Good design is a sign of progress of mankind, and investing in good design is the equivalent to contributing to the evolution of civilization.

Japanese architects are at the forefront of experimentation, building new and surprising scenarios about how people can live together. I am always inspired by the freedom of thought behind their works, and the questions that come to mind when I see these projects.

I would have become an artist.

Design is creation of future scenarios that address specific issues.

Through creative yet pragmatic design solutions that are specific to context, ambitions and constraints of each project, we facilitate effective ways for how we live, work and play in our ever-changing world today.

Designers are equipped to be motivators of change, and it is important that we push this change for the better rather than the worst. The difficulty is, we are all part of the pervasive capitalist economy, and a lot of design is often the creation of unnecessary luxuries, rather than essential improvements. Perhaps it is important for us as designers to set our own design problems not based on what the market may want, but based on what the future of mankind may need.

Projects that ask for new inventive solutions that address problems in special ways.

More and more people are engaging in design, or so it seems, through new forms of digital social networks where increasingly more people are expressing their ideas about design. When so many people are voicing their opinions and creating at the same time, it is even more important to make sense of all this excessive production and chatter. Can good design be democratically determined? I don’t think so, although enduring design without designers has historically evolved through iterations by different authors over generations. Will the role of designers be diminished and replaced by algorithms or networks of contributors? I think designs that don’t question the status quo and don’t invent or tweak out something new will be the first kinds that become automatically generated. The most pressing issue in the future of design that serves humankind is about asking what should design do for us?

Depends on the scale of the project, the conceptualization may take anything between a week to a few months.

Our design process identifies the ultimate design objective and builds up an in-depth understanding of the essence of each project by revealing the most positively productive relationships between key issues.

WHY? In order to gain insights into the brief at the outset, we come up with the right questions to ask, questions that will reveal the crux of the problem, questions that may put the motives in different perspectives, questions that bring out the true raison d'etre of the project.

WHAT IF? Based on these insights, which may be contextual, programmatic, and cultural and so on, we generate ideas and proposals that postulate extraordinary scenarios.

This is a chicken and egg scenario, I think it goes both ways, no one can create new works in isolation without the influence of precedents, but sometimes a new thing emerges that departs from the past, even if it is a modification or improvement of it. If this new thing is accepted by the arbiters of taste and by the public in terms of the commercial success, it goes about setting a new trend of following.

We always want to create materiality whose own integrity is self-evident or expressed. Colour on the other hand, is simultaneously the illusion of space and the expression of emotion. We use colour to evoke a mood through its ambience.

The essay by Robin Evans titled “Mies Van Der Rohe’s Paradoxical Symmetries” left a lasting impression since I read it in University and kept coming back to it. It is an excellent example of the myriad of ways that architecture can be read, sometimes requiring the detective-like interrogation of phenomenon which is felt but not explicitly understood, with revelations that can change preconceived notions. The richness and subtlety in such seminal buildings is the hallmark of great architecture.

When I was still in school, I wanted to be an artist. I always had many ideas of things I want to build, or visions that I want to draw, or thoughts and feelings I want to express. Then I went to architecture school, simply thinking that architecture as the “mother of all arts” will satisfy my urges. It did, and more, steered me into the realm of design. To me, one fundamental difference is that most Art has an elevated sense of purpose dealing with questions about humanity but is actually low on functionality and usefulness, whilst vice versa, most architecture uses its functionality to justify its reason for being, but rarely addresses deeper questions about what humanity can be. I hope we will be able to create designs that are high on both aspects.

Studio Twist is founded in 2007 in Shanghai, an integrated architecture and interior design firm focused on the creation of one-of-a-kind buildings and spatial environments that enhance the character and identity of place for our design-minded clients.

Through creative yet pragmatic design solutions that are specific to context, ambitions and constraints of each project, we facilitate effective ways for how we live, work and play in our ever-changing world today.

Design is creation of future scenarios that address specific issues.

Projects that ask for new inventive solutions that address problems in special ways.

We always want to create materiality whose own integrity is self-evident or expressed.

When I am relaxed yet focused.

The concept is the crux of a design and that is where I spend most of my focus.

When ideas flow with little eureka moments, it’s a sense of slow euphoria coupled with excited anticipation.

There is always an element of wonder, when something that was sketched and modelled and drawn over and over again starts to stand in front of my eyes as a physical object or space, the bodily sensations that I feel in relation to the real thing, always stronger and different from the virtual conjuring during design stages.

When people use the space, and develop a sense of connection with it, and in turn that space does something to the person, a new thought, a new sensation, a new feeling, and the person is therefore richer in their experiences for it.

Design cannot do everything or solve every problem, so when debating what is good design and what is not as good, it is important to evaluate the results in terms of the starting ambitions of the project, whether the ambition is appropriately set, and whether the results fulfil those objectives. Great design, however, transcends its functional objectives, and starts to breathe of new possibilities never seen or experienced before.

Designers are equipped to be motivators of change, and it is important that we push this change for the better rather than the worst. The difficulty is, we are all part of the pervasive capitalist economy, and a lot of design is often the creation of unnecessary luxuries, rather than essential improvements. Perhaps it is important for us as designers to set our own design problems not based on what the market may want, but based on what the future of mankind may need.

More and more people are engaging in design, or so it seems, through new forms of digital social networks where increasingly more people are expressing their ideas about design. When so many people are voicing their opinions and creating at the same time, it is even more important to make sense of all this excessive production and chatter. Can good design be democratically determined? I don’t think so, although enduring design without designers has historically evolved through iterations by different authors over generations. Will the role of designers be diminished and replaced by algorithms or networks of contributors? I think designs that don’t question the status quo and don’t invent or tweak out something new will be the first kinds that become automatically generated. The most pressing issue in the future of design that serves humankind is about asking what should design do for us?

A lot of it comes from Art, and reading about other designers’ creative work.

I like to think of our work as not belonging to any style, although it is difficult not to be part of modernism or contemporary trends in generative digital design. We like to see ourselves as creators of inventive architecture, our own evolving artistic style that emerges on a project by project basis based on our intellectual reasoning and instinctive narratives. Inventiveness is important, because design needs to solve problems and offer new solutions, not just repeat the status quo.

I grew up in Singapore, lived and worked in London for 6 years, before living in Shanghai for the past 10 years. Singapore imported a lot of design ideals as it struggles to position its uniqueness as a tropical island state with a colonial history, whilst Shanghai catapulted into modernity in a similar way of absorbing western influences, albeit with Chineseness at its core constantly creating interesting mutations and adaptations. Meanwhile, London, often deemed the design capital of the world, continues to be at the forefront of attracting and generating new ideas in art and architecture. I observed that design tastes and symbols of class evolve quite fast amidst the rapid urbanization and modernization in Shanghai, and there is certainly cross-pollination in ideas stemming from my past experiences in these different cities that inform what I think could be in the future.

It is important for companies to appoint a key project driver, not just a project manager, but a driver of the ambitions and defender of the ultimate purpose of the project. Such a person will be the champion for the brand or the project, by which clarity will reveal the right designers that match the purpose. A good project starts with a client who is ready and knows what it is looking for.

Our design process identifies the ultimate design objective and builds up an in-depth understanding of the essence of each project by revealing the most positively productive relationships between key issues.

WHY? In order to gain insights into the brief at the outset, we come up with the right questions to ask, questions that will reveal the crux of the problem, questions that may put the motives in different perspectives, questions that bring out the true raison d'etre of the project.

WHAT IF? Based on these insights, which may be contextual, programmatic, and cultural and so on, we generate ideas and proposals that postulate extraordinary scenarios.

We use a range of tools, from sketches, to a collection of reference images, to making physical models in the office, 3D digital modelling to visualize complex geometry and spaces, and story-telling scripts, anything that can help us develop our ideas and clarify the design.

There are clear milestones within the concept design process that helps clarify the direction. This is the stage that requires most time in order for the concept to grow and mature, after which design development and production of construction documentation will be time-controllable tasks.

Depends on the scale of the project, the conceptualization may take anything between a week to a few months.

My work experience at Arup’s Advanced Geometry Unit in London after graduating from Architectural Association in London.

We work as a team where each team member has their own specialty and focus.

We are currently working on 2 cinemas that will be built in Chongqing and one in Chengdu this year.

lipchiong@studio-twist.com