Thoughts on space-making

Thoughts on Space-Making

The following content presents HAO’s view on “Space-Making” acquired mainly from his experience as an Interior design student, teaching assistant, and practitioner.

This is not a portfolio

Labyrinth

Striving for a personal stance

Pure Space

Shop

Office Idea

Culture seeds

Unearth

Form

Juntung Borneo

Common space

Exhibition

Experience

Wetland promenade

Home-stay No. 1

Home-stay housing No. 2

Perception

Home-stay housing No. 1

Home-stay No. 2

Image-oriented world Visualization works

This is not a portfolio

This is not a portfolio. It does not contain complete project descriptions, nor does it wish to present only the “best” selected works in terms of design. It is more concerned with showcasing my thoughts and ideas at the current stage of my career, and the works are simply a means to an end. The book begins by presenting “Labyrinth,” my most recent work to date, which I believe best represents my current thinking. This is followed by introducing five themes: Pure Space, Idea, Form, Experience, and Perception. These important themes have constantly been in the back of my mind over the years, influencing my design decisions. Each theme is presented with works that it either inspired or was derived from. It is important to note that the themes themselves are not autonomous; they permeate, influence, and drive each other; they are not linear nor present any hierarchy, which is why the accompanying works were not arranged chronologically.

The intent is for this book to be read not as a collection of individual works, but as a whole; it is a project in itself. The images representing the works, consisting of plans

(9), sections (10), diagrams (13), renderings (22), models (2), and sketches (2), were all carefully “chosen” from archival files and were not redone or over-worked to glorify or deceive. The choices are all made based on the image’s capacity to supplement the themes that are being presented, many of which are not the final image of their respective projects. This decision was consciously made to avoid being pretentious; to show that the ideas they represent were not afterthoughts, but present during the design process or early in my career. What’s interesting is that even in their premature states, one can still clearly see the ideas radiant from within.

In conclusion, this is not a portfolio. Portfolios are pretentious, whereas this book is not. It is honest; it is personal; it is self-referential; it is an autobiography; it is a manifesto.

View from the

“Labyrinth” aims to appeal to the human ability of deduction, inviting, taunting even, visitors to conceptualize what is in-between the two walls that contain the labyrinth staircase, evoking a unique experience through manipulating human perception.

Information

Type professional Year 2021

Program home-stay

Location Taitung, Taiwan

Team Create + Think Design Studio

Role complete proposal ideation, 3d modeling, all images in this volume

Status estimated to be completed in 2022

Labyrinth

The main entrance is accessed via a ramp that goes around the building’s perimeter

From the exterior, the building is perceived as “two” seemingly normal buildings separated by a staircase

Labyrinth

GF plan. Upon entering, it is revealed to be “one” building instead of “two,” creating a sense of contradiction

1F plan. Four units, each accessed via an independent staircase that also leads to the rooftop platform

Section A. The common conception of four independent circulations is the requirement of four cores

Section B. The idea that four circulations could fit between the two walls would create a sense of disbelief

Hidden accesses were placed on the central landings, providing the option to connect units on the same level

This project is centered around its circulation, which addresses the client’s desire for a home-stay that is secluded and private. By creating independent accesses for each unit, which also leads to the rooftop viewing platform, the circulation itself becomes part of the private domain. This operation physically strengthens the sense of privateness of the units, a sense that is capable of being received by all individuals from different backgrounds experiencing this space.

Contradictions are also an important

agency in cultivating the guest’s perception. In addition to the “one/two building” contradiction, further operations were conducted on the stairs themselves. From the disposition of the exterior and the perspective from the entrance foyer, it is easy to assume that the four circulations were arranged into “two cores.” It is only when you traverse the stairs that you discover this is not the case, since the stairs lead right across the length of the building, leaving you wondering why you didn’t collide with the other circulations. The more “receptive” guests would notice these contradictions, while the less-receptive ones will be influenced on a subconscious level; either way, shrouding the structure under a veil of mysteriousness, rendering it otherworldly and thus secluded.

Striving for a personal stance

We live in an epoch of pluralism. Without a certain authoritative “ism” to guide us, anything seems to go. Within this chaos, designers must struggle against the growing mob of subjective opinions, no longer able to seek recourse in universally validated ideologies. This resulted in a generation of designers that are neutral and conscious of being politically correct, constantly hiding behind parameters and regulations to battle the ever-growing individualism.

Even under such hopeless conditions, I do not believe it is logical for the designers of our current epoch to operate without a personal “Stance.” Approaching each project like a blank canvas and use given parameters exclusively, hoping to create something unique every single time is simply unrealistic. The outcome of such an operation would most likely be mundane and mediocre. However, here I am not propagating the development of a personal “formal disposition,” but proposing a self-referential approach on a meta-level. To uncover underlying themes and ideas which are omnipresent, yet remain hidden

from the consciousness during the process of design thinking. These hidden themes act as agents, influencing our design choices, pushing us down certain paths, and defining who we are as designers. To harness such knowledge and make it the basis of every design, it would then be more unlikely to produce any generic work, even when there are only given parameters to work with. Irrefutably, these themes and ideas develop and change over time, which is why the search becomes a lifelong endeavor; an exploration into the unknown that does not end with the conclusion of each project.

In hindsight, five themes have always been influencing me, all of which coalesced to shape my current understanding of “space-making.” It is my intent to present this temporal conclusion of my exploration.

Pure Space

Trained as an interior designer, “Spatiality” has always been my primary focus. However, we were taught early on to generate Space only with non-spatial parameters, such as the client’s preferences or a brand’s identity, rendering Space as a mere signifier of something non-spatial. We were almost always required to create fictional clients with fictional requisites to base our design on and to justify our design decisions. Despite this, I have always found this type of space-generating approach pretentious and unconvincing.

Space is a weak medium as a signifier due to its abstract disposition. One could aim to signify one thing, then end up having it be interpreted by others as another. And even then one could just as easily re-phrase the whole concept for the design to be justified. It is also extremely hard for designers to operate when there are only generic briefs or uninteresting clients available to work with. This often led to the excessive use of “referencing,” with the resulting Space a collage of nice-looking “spatial instances” appropriated by the author from all kinds of

sources, which is then justified by a fictitious narrative, grounding it to the brief.

Realizing that such operations are nonsensical and that Space isn’t necessarily derived from non-spatial parameters to begin with, I began exploring in the opposite direction. To create Space with purely spatial ideas and avoid turning it into a signifier of something non-spatial. Pure Space, Space that even when stripped of fancy finishes, designer furniture, and ornamentation, would still radiant with its inherent Spatiality.

Carhartt WIP Shop

Pure Space: Shop

View from the south-west

Pure Space: Shop

Information

Type bachelor project

Year 2016

Program commercial shop

Team independent

Carhartt WIP Shop

Three pieces of “furniture” were placed in the center of the “Shop.” They act as both display stands and space-generating agencies, defining negative space as circulations and generating “places” depending on its orientations. The furniture themselves was a play on perceptions. Viewed from the south, they seem arbitrary, whereas, from the west, they aligned to depict the logo of the brand.

In the context of a department store, “Shop” was an early attempt to conceive space purely with spatial ideas in place of depicting the brand’s identity. Due to the size, it was clear that filling up the already cramped space with “designs” was nonsensical, which is why I resolved to only create the three “furniture.” All operations within this project were based on how space was to be perceived and experienced, representing nothing and signifying nothing. It was conceived purely spatially.

Pure Space: Shop

Flexible Office

Information

Type bachelor project

Year 2017

Program commercial office

Team independent

Habitable “shelf” axonometric

Pure Space: Office

Habitable “shelf” on the right

Office plan

Lecture plan

Party plan

Pure Space: Office

Flexible Office

With the placement of an oversized, habitable “shelf,” capable of storing away desks and chairs on its ground floor and doubling as a meeting or office space on its mezzanine level, the rest of the office space becomes purely flexible, achieving a truly flexible spatiality.

The brief for the “Office” was specific about two things, the required number of desks and for the space to be flexible. Uninterested in tailoring space for a specific company (which is by definition, the opposite of being flexible) and designating a room “multi-functional” to proclaim the whole design as such, I set out in search of a design that is flexible in a fundamental way. My approach was a deductive one. To achieve flexibility, it was essential to have the option to store away objects that took up the most space, which in this case were the desks. This resulted in the design and placement of the oversized, habitable “shelf.”

I have always aspired to create newness in my works.

“New” not in terms of being bizarre in form or innovative in technique, but in a fundamental way. To achieve such newness, it is crucial to escape dogmas, since all preconceived laws and prejudices could potentially be contaminated by misinterpretations or simply being outdated. Within a world where no concrete rules could be taken for granted, only basic conceptual Ideas could remain pure. Utilizing such Ideas as the basis of my design, I can create works that are free of given orthodoxy. For example, with Ideas such as “questioning the modern conception of the museum,” it is possible for me to generate works that are radically new in a fundamental way. I believe design should always be the materialization of such Ideas.

Irrefutably, I cannot deny the feasibility of conceiving a design without the use of Ideas; however, I believe its results will never match the creativity of the ones that do. Works that were conceived not from Ideas, but random sketches or the sheer imagination of an author might be interesting at first glance, yet would only be one more

addition to our already overfilled design landscape. It would not be comprehensible to the public, and thus unable to engage in any discourse or challenge the boundaries of our design discipline. It would be as if it were without a soul.

One could even go further and say that the Idea might be even more important to designers than the design itself. A single Idea could generate an infinite number of designs, constantly evolving, inspiring, and influencing, whereas the design itself ends the moment its physical body is erected. Therefore, all my works began with an Idea, not with form or function, but always with an Idea.

1 It is important to differentiate between the “Idea” stressed here and that of the “Spatial idea.” The “Idea” described here is the overall fundamental Idea that could become the basis of design. Fundamental Ideas about program, behavior, or discipline-related topics. However, additional “Spatial ideas” would need to be derived from such “Ideas” to generate a form for the design. Idea

Culture seeds installation

The poetic form of a dandelion

Idea: Culture seeds

Idea: Culture seeds

Information

Type personal study

Year 2016

Program cultural installation

Team independent

Culture seeds installation

This project originating from the idea to challenge the modern conception of the “museum,” this usually monolithic structure was deconstructed; its cultural contents unpacked and spread like seeds into the city as a series of “display stands,” creating a “museum” in the scale of a city.

The poetic premise was what led to the adoption of an equally poetic form of a dandelion. However, the results of such metaphorical operations are most certainly doomed to be misinterpreted, rendering it not as convincing. Nevertheless, the idea of a “cityscaled museum” still alludes to me.

Idea: Culture seeds

Unearth installation

Information

Nighttime view

Idea: Unearth

Type competition

Year 2017

Program cultural installation

Team Joshua Teo

Role project leader

Different concrete was used to evoke the sense of being “unearthed”

Idea: Unearth

Idea: Unearth

Process diagram of the construction method

Idea: Unearth

Unearth installation

This project revived the idea of a “cityscaled museum,” but with a more abstract approach in terms of form-generating. Thinking of how one could mass-produce the “display stands” while still maintaining their individuality, resulted in the designation of a construction method in place of actually designing each one of them. Creating display stands with infinite display box configurations to be spread around the city.

“

Unearth” was the submission for a competition a year after designing “Culture seeds.” The brief was to create an installation with a base of 4 square meters, which I saw as an opportunity to revive the idea of a “city-scaled museum.” The evolution from “Culture seeds” to “Unearth” is the clear epitome of how ideas could evolve and have the capacity to generate new possibilities and designs.

Idea: Unearth

The Form is one of the most physical and important qualities of space. It is what orchestrates light and sound; shapes one’s perception; and dictates the overall atmosphere. It is the responsibility of the author to apply intentions to Form to cultivate a certain spatial experience for the user. Due to its encompassing and omnipresent disposition, a contrast to that of an “object,” the Form of “space” is obligated to embody intentions that are capable of being received universally. If the Form lacks such universality, it would be forced to welcome all kinds of misinterpretations, rendering it arbitrary and meaningless. Such Form would not have the capacity to “cultivate,” making it no better than random scribbles on a plan drawing by a child.

Forms created with operations such as “space sculpting” (which rely on the author’s subjective judgment and a certain willfulness), “found space” (which the Form is discovered by chance then later attached with meanings), or “abstracting” are extremely arbitrary and even if there still exists a trace of intentionality, it would most likely

depend heavily upon spectator’s intellectual capacity to be comprehensible and failing to be universal. Furthermore, these operations are often adopted for the mere purpose of creating spaces that are “unique,” which I do not believe is its sole destiny.

The only possible way for Form to be able to “cultivate” experience and express intentionality is for it to be derived directly from spatial ideas. Spatial ideas that are intention-giving and require only basic knowledge to be understood (guaranteeing universality). However, ideas and intentions are meaningless if the Form itself lacks clarity and fails to convey them, which is why it is equally important for the Form to be derived through a precise deduction process. This allows the spatial ideas to become an inherent part of the Form, imbuing it with formal intentions that are universally comprehensible and can be experienced by all more or less in the intended way. It is my endeavor to achieve such Forms in my works.

Juntung Borneo wildlife center

View of the entrance lobby

Form: Juntung Borneo

Form: Juntung Borneo

Type undergraduate thesis

Year 2018

Program wildlife center

Location Kuching, Malaysia

Team Joshua Teo

Role project leader

Asia Young Designer Award

2nd prize

Entanglement

“Leveled” möbius skin (wildlife center)

“Traversing” möbius skin (forest walk)

One seamless structure

A structure for studying and viewing orangutans

Form: Juntung Borneo

The spiraling geometry creates a sense of pulling visitors deeper into the forest.

Form: Juntung Borneo

Form: Juntung Borneo

Form: Juntung Borneo

North-south section

East-west section

South elevation

Juntung Borneo wildlife center

The premise was to consider how two fundamentally different programs, forest walk and wildlife center, could be joined under one structure while sharing equal views of the forest. The final form of two joining möbius geometries was not the beginning, but the outcome of a precise operation derived directly from this premise. As visitors stroll within the forest walk, they are transported from inside the loop to the outside; sometimes above the wildlife center; sometimes below, and due to the spiraling geometry of the structure, they also experience a sense of being pulled deeper into the forest.

The forest walk was planned to be an open-air path traversing different altitudes of the forest, whereas the wildlife center was to be a closed facility with educational functions that must remain level. The idea was to have the forest walk entangle a leveled the wildlife center loop. Thinking of how the two could be joined seamlessly, it was decided that möbius skins were to be wrapped around each loop, since a möbius surface’s disposition is to traverse from the inside of a loop to the outside, then back again (much like the “entanglement” that was being targeted). The two were then joined together by one of the surfaces, uniting the two in one structure.

Form: Juntung Borneo

Common space of a residential tower

Information

Type competition

Year 2016

Program common space

Team Carla Chang

Role project leader

National Interior Design Award shortlisted

An expansive three-dimensional realm

Form: Common space

Compartmentalized

Form: Common space

Expansive plane

Surface “wall”

Common space of a residential tower

This project proposes to replace the partition walls of the common space with one single undulating “surface wall.” The more private programs were tucked beneath the surface, whereas the more public functions were placed above. By a single gesture of redefining the notion of the “wall,” a two-dimensional compartmentalized space was transformed into an expansive three-dimensional realm, weaving together all functions and people.

The “Common space” of a residential tower is supposedly the most “public” space in the building. However, once the functions were inserted and their partition walls erected, space becomes a maze of closed-off rooms and corridors. Such space ceases to display any traits of “publicness.” When I think of the word “public,” I picture an expanse of open landscape where everyone on it is connected. This became the experience I set out to achieve. The immediate obstacle was the vertical partition walls, which I propose to replace. The resulting space is a truly public “Common space.”

Form: Common space

The “vantage point”

Type competition

Year 2017

Program exhibition

Location Taipei, Taiwan

Team Carla Chang

Role project leader

Taiwan Student Interior Design Award

3rd prize

View of the “city skyline” from the “mountain trail”

Create choices

Mapping routes

Create vantage point

Form: Exhibition

Taipei Exhibition

This exhibition was to showcase Taipei city in the context of its international airport. The first priority was to achieve the compact, maze-like atmosphere omnipresent throughout the city. This was done via recreating the “low-rises.” The second was to simulate the experience of viewing the city from the vantage point of a popular mountain trail. Instead of relying completely on elevating the route, the city “low-rises” were pushed down towards its foot. As visitors travel on this “mountain trail,” one senses the compactness decline, giving way to vast openness as the “city skyline” unfolds before them.

The brief was to showcase Taipei, an extremely compact city consisted mainly of low-rises. It is situated within a basin-like landscape, giving residents easy access to the surrounding mountains. The intention from the outset was to simulate such unique experiences within the exhibition. Our first operation was to create path choices. Much like planning for a trip, five routes based on tourist attractions and originating from the airport were mapped and traced accordingly to the site. Negative spaces were then partitioned and extruded, mimicking the low-rises. The second operation was to recreate the experience of viewing the city from a vantage point along the “mountain trail” route. How then can one create a vantage point under the limited ceiling height? The final solution of “pushing down” to achieve what should have been the result of “elevating” was a contradictory one.

What makes “space” such a powerful medium is its ability to generate “Experience.” To forfeit such a disposition is a tremendous waste of potential. Still, the reluctance to incorporate “Experience” as a design tool is not without reason. It is commonly misunderstood as belonging exclusively to the world of subjectivity and thus outside the author’s control. This is a misunderstanding since it is not uncommon for different individuals to Experience more or less the same sensation upon visiting the same space.

To better understand how one can cultivate “Experience,” one must first understand how humans perceive the world. The reason different individuals perceive the world differently is that we do not actually see the “real” world as it is.2 What we see is only what our brains interpret and conceptualize from the data received through our body’s sensory apparatus. During this process of conceptualizing, factors such as the rationale, empirical knowledge, or personal emotions intervene, playing vital roles in the actual shaping of the final Experience. It is only when one is required to access their empirical

knowledge or personal emotions to comprehend the phenomena in front of them, that the Experience become subjective. Hence, while it is not wrong to state that Experience is subjective, it is wrong to deny that it holds a capacity for being objective and universal.

To cultivate an “Experience” that is objective and universal, it is vital to construct it abstractly and intellectually, requiring only the access of basic rationale to be understood and Experienced. For example, people from diverse backgrounds can Experience “traversing from a noisy street to a quiet garden via a disorienting tunnel” more or less in the same way. Such Experience does not require to be “felt” viscerally but is “perceived” intellectually, rendering it capable of being objective and universal.

2 The Realist approach.

Wetland promenade extension proposal

Initial sketches showing a new external circulation that changes how the rooms are experienced

Experience: Wetland promenade

Information

Type bachelor project

Year 2016

Program gallery space

Location Yunlin, Taiwan

Team independent

Reorganizing a preexisting house into a “sequence of galleries” via the extension

Experience: Wetland promenade

Wetland promenade extension proposal

This extension proposal began by thinking of how the rooms/gallery spaces were to be experienced. Instead of all the rooms being accessed by the original central stairwell, they were reorganized into a “sequence of galleries” via the new external circulation extension, which wrapped around the original house’s perimeter. As a result, visitors are no longer confined within closed spaces but weave between the galleries and the scenery of the adjacent wetland, blurring inside and outside.

“Wetland promenade” was an extension to a preexisting stilt-house situated by a wetland. The brief was to present a design scheme to convert the house into a gallery space, however, I do not believe a mere interior operation was sufficient for such a transformation. I was concerned about how the rooms/gallery spaces were to be experienced as a whole, since their composition was never for that purpose. This led to the idea of reorganizing the rooms into a “linear sequence of gallery spaces” via an extension. The intended experience was cultivated intellectually and thus able to be comprehended and experienced by all.

Experience: Wetland promenade

Home-stay proposal No. 1

Information

Type professional Year 2019

Program home-stay

Location Taitung, Taiwan

Team Create + Think Design Studio

Role complete proposal ideation, 3d modeling, all images in this volume

Traversing through a disorienting tunnel, then clockwise around the building’s perimeter to the entrance

Experience: Home-stay No. 1

Experience: Home-stay No. 1

View from the street

Experience: Home-stay No. 1

Experience: Home-stay No. 1

View back towards the entrance

View from the entrance. Beyond the window was the path in which the guests arrived in

This was the initial proposal for “Labyrinth.” The plan was to erect a secluded home-stay on the small, awkwardly situated site, adjacent to the street. However, the biggest challenge was not in the site condition but the subjectivity of “secludedness.” The solution of “traversing from the noisy street to a quiet private garden via a disorienting tunnel” strives to create this sense by seeking recourse in the rationale, utilizing purely formal operations to achieve an experience that is tangible and comprehensible to all.

The guests arrive via the garage, and as the gates close, they are drawn in by faint lights shimmering ahead, revealing a flight of winding stairs. Heading up, the guests find themselves in a narrow tunnel and realized that the shimmering lights were lights filtered from the trees and penetrating through a small slit in the wall. Upon exiting the tunnel, the guests are surprised to be amid a forest and no longer by the street. Turning left, they are met with a two-stories tall gateway which they pass through quickly, leaving behind the forest and retreating to the safety of a private garden. Two more left turns later, they finally arrive at the entrance, disoriented and completely cleansed of the outside world. It is as if they had arrived at the heart of a place far removed from the world. A “serene” place.

Experience: Home-stay No. 1

Home-stay housing proposal No. 2

Experience: Home-stay housing No. 2

View from the north

Experience: Home-stay housing No. 2

Information

Type professional

Year 2019

Program home-stay housing

Location Taitung, Taiwan

Team independent

Experience: Home-stay housing No. 2

Perched on top of a barren hill with a clear line of site to the sea

1F plan. Each unit has its own independent access

Experience: Home-stay housing No. 2

Experience: Home-stay housing No. 2

Path to the viewing platform

The structure itself was conceived as a filtering device

Experience: Home-stay housing No. 2

Framed view of the sea

The sea facing facade is completely open, a contrast to the back facade

The walls and the shallow apertures together created a skin-like character

Experience: Home-stay housing No. 2

This project was designed with the cultivation of how the view of the sea was to be approached in mind. It is my belief that no matter how beautiful the scenery is, it would always cease to amaze and retreat as a backdrop when there’s excessive access to it. By denying the guests the view upfront, and forcing them through a series of operations before presenting it to them, I believe would maximize that feeling of awe. As a result, the structure itself was also conceived as one of the devices filtering the view.

Additional operations were applied to the structure to further manipulate perception. The disposition of the back facade was determined by the independent access to the units. These accesses and stairs are protected from the weather by tall thin walls, leaving only a couple of shallow apertures. The walls and the openings together created a skin-like character, giving the overall structure a contradictory image of simultaneously being thick and solid, yet light and delicate.

Experience: Home-stay housing No. 2

At this point of my research, I have come to realize that the ultimate goal of “space-making” is, in fact, the “shaping of human Perception with space.” It is not merely about solving a problem. Problem-solving belongs to the given brief; the prerequisites that need to be addressed before the actual design process can be implemented. It is also not about striving to create unique spatiality or inventing methodologies that do. As I have stressed before, space without intentions is meaningless, no matter how beautiful, interesting, or how well it is executed. Space that aspires to be anything but the shaping of Perception is neglecting its fullest capacity, which is analogous to an eagle learning to walk gorgeously while it could have sworn magnificently in the sky.

Many operations can manipulate Perception; however, keeping in mind the encompassing disposition of space, only those that are received intellectually should be applied. For such operations to work, space must evoke an urge for the mind to further investigate, which requires the careful balancing of methods such as complexity,

depths, and estrangement3. Space that is too complex or too obvious ceases to invite further contemplation and dissolves into the backdrop; space with depths in meanings can be comprehensible on the surface level to less-receptive individuals, yet even more intriguing to the more receptive as additional meanings are revealed upon further examination; and lastly, estrangement triggers a sense of contradiction on a subconscious level, resulting in a space that seems “off” and thus interesting.

Looking back, even the aforementioned themes hinted at this goal. In Pure Space, I described the intention to conceive space based on spatial ideas in place of non-spatial parameters. In Idea, I maintained that designs should be the materialization of ideas. In Form, I accentuated the need for a form that cultivates experience, and not just for the sake of being unique. And in Experience, I proposed the possibility of how one could design an objective and universally encompassing experience for all. All of which set the stage for the idea of space’s destiny being a Perception-shaping device.

Home-stay housing proposal No. 1

Perception: Home-stay housing No. 1

View from the north

Perception: Home-stay housing No. 1

Information

Type professional

Year 2019

Program home-stay housing

Location Taitung, Taiwan

Team independent

Seemingly arbitrarily arranged apertures, which also feel to be missing a row on the top

Perception: Home-stay housing No. 1

Five units, each is disassembled into three “rooms” and distributed across two floors

Perception: Home-stay housing No. 1

Fragmented “pitched roofs” under the real roof, spanning the perimeter of each unit

Basement foyer where each of the five units have its own private entrance

Perception: Home-stay housing No. 1

This project was intentionally conceived as a contradictory experience. The intent was for the units to feel as if being part of a single-family house, instead of a small typical unit within a housing building.

The exterior implies a normal housing typology, and yet closer examination reveals that the apertures seem arbitrarily arranged and also appear to be missing a row. The interior is consists of five units, to achieve the perception of living in a single-family house, each unit is disassembled into three rooms of living, bath, and bed. These rooms were then distributed across two floors and connected via independent circulation, resulting in a variety of spatial qualities and also the unorthodox arrangement of the apertures. To further this perception, each unit was fitted with its own “pitched roof,” spanning the perimeter of its rooms. This results in a series of fragmented pitched roofs hidden underneath the real one, explaining the missing row of apertures.

Perception: Home-stay housing No. 1

Home-stay proposal No. 2

Information

Type professional Year 2020

Program home-stay Location Taitung, Taiwan

Team Create + Think Design Studio

Role complete proposal ideation, 3d modeling, all images in this volume

Envisioned to be a series of “engawa-like” spaces that spiraled up toward the sky

Perception: Home-stay No. 2

Perception: Home-stay No. 2

1F plan. One traversed via steps and corner-turning from the mountain scenery to that of the ocean

Section A. The shifting volume creates a dynamic impression

Whether the structure is a two-stories or a three-stories building depends on the side it is being viewed

Perception: Home-stay No. 2

This was the second iteration for the design of “Labyrinth.” The proposal took into account its context, which was situated on a site facing the ocean and with its back to the mountain. The premise of this design originated from the idea to cultivate the human perception of this seemingly opposite scenery outside. The building was envisioned to be a series of “engawa-like” spaces that spiraled up toward the sky. Creating a unique spatial quality and transitional experience within the units as one traversed via steps and corner-turning, from the ocean scenery to that of the mountain and vice versa.

The resulting geometry was in itself, a manifestation of the main circulation. Beginning from the entrance, guests spirals up clockwise via a ramp to the restaurant, then up a spiraled staircase to their respective rooms. The geometry also created a contradiction in whether it is a two-stories structure or a three-stories, with the answer oscillating depending on the side it was being viewed.

Perception: Home-stay No. 2

In the image-oriented world we live in, ideas and meanings no longer carry the significance that they once did. Projects gain fame and traction not by being avant-garde in their thinking, but by simply being photogenic. I see this inclination leading to the inevitable death of the “designer” figure. When attractive images become all that matters, anyone can have a say. By then, there would be no safety-net to prevent designers from becoming mere executors, enslaved by clients simply to bring their “design” into the world. Even as we speak, there are clients presenting blurry pixelated screenshots found on the Internet and requesting “designers” to build space accordingly. Not surprisingly, most are getting exactly what they want. Nowadays, it is also not uncommon to see those clients happily sharing their “design” of café or home on social media, proclaiming how they were inspired one morning and drew up the “plan” on a piece of recycled paper. The absurdity is profound.

My research presented in this book is also an effort to combat this Zeitgeist. Needless to say, it is impossible

to change the world and I do not wish to do so. My intentions are purely personal, an endeavor. It is a tough and austere path to reject images and references, yet I believe it is a necessary sacrifice in order to stay true to the essence of design, which I believe is about the thinking. Thoughts and ideas that forever challenge the boundaries of the discipline, generating designs that are fundamentally new, in place of debating over trivial dilemmas such as contradicting client-designer preferences of a certain set of reference images.

Over the years, I’ve done several freelance visualization works. I did not take part in the design process other than 3d-modeling and the selection of certain textures and furniture. I also do not understand any of the concepts that it represents, yet I am still capable of dictating the fictitious narrative and atmosphere for each project. This shows how easily images can be manipulative and thus pretentious. Alas, for the sake of our image-oriented world, here are some excerpts.

Visualization of a bath designed by Ju Guo-dung

Visualization for a competition entry by Lin Yue-En and Ko chin

Visualization for a competition entry by Lin Yue-en and Ko chin

Visualization for a competition entry by Archinexus

Visualization for a competition entry by Pauline Lai

Re-imagining of a bridge designed by Sergio Musmeci