201IND way of seeing magazine lee

LEE SAU PAN,DORICY Interior design of male and female PHOTOGRAPHY BY BELLA WANG INTERVIEW BY LEE SAU PAN

Lee Sau Pan ( Doricy) is a young interior designer from Hong Kong, China.

She was a little girl growing up in this small city. It is an international city rooted in Chinese culture and strongly influenced by Western culture. A few years ago she decided to leave Hong Kong after finished her A-Level academic year and go to UK for studying the interior design course, a course that she dream of. Doricy has not studied any about art before. She found herself walking an uncharted path towards a new life of completely freedom that allowed her to follow her dream to become an interior designer. She falls in love with interior design since she was really small. She still does not know if she can become a successful interior designer or not. She just follows her mind and does her best for every project.

apartamento - lee sau pan

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When did it all start?

Living area Home means different things to different people. Some consider it a place of rest, a haven away from the stresses of modern day living others see their home as an exciting renovation project. For Doricy, home is the most relaxing space and a haven for her. Here in the photo, you can see her living space and working area. She likes contemporary design and using the simple and softer color, such as black and white to highlight the art on the wall as the visual emphasis. She likes to keep everything simple and clean.

She chose the 2209 three- seat simple leather sofa (designed by Borge Mogensen) and with the JH Miller Pompei 6 Light Ceiling Light in Black and Sliver. She also put the vintage small drawer and lamp next to the sofa. She thought that vintage and contemporary furniture are always worked well together. They looked really different but I chose the same color tone.I like the original wooden ceiling. It has a natural dark brown color. apartamento - lee sau pan

I love interior design since I was really small. It is all because of my dad. He is an interior designer in Hong Kong. He influenced me a lots. I remember that he always carried many floor plans, sketching of interior and also the magazines after he came back home from work. I thought that was really interesting. I love to read them even I did not understand. A few years later, my father started to tell me about his job and the project that he was doing because he knew that I have interest about that.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Hong Kong, which is a small city in China. It is an international and modern city in China. The reason why I said like that it is because Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839-42) for 150 years. British resumed control until 1997. The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as “East meets west�, and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England. I was growing up in this environment so it is the key factor to affect my design style and thinking. apartamento - lee sau pan

5 Do you have any siblings?

I have a big family. I have three sisters and one older brother. I love my entire family member.

It is really warm and sweet home for me. Although I have many family members, I am a really quiet person and love to stay alone. My mum told me that I am a reclusive child. In fact, I am not. I love everyone but I just like to play something alone. I liked to play with my papers in my bedroom while they were watching TV. I like sketching and folding paper when I was small. My parents thought that drawing is wasting the time. They don’t allow me to do sketching and drawing. They thought that I could not learn anything from sketching or drawing. In Chinese culture, they tend to think studying business, economy or finance is more useful for our future.

Why did you choose to study in the UK? Studying in the UK is really good for me to understand different culture and idea. I still carry some traditional Chinese culture with the new western thinking. Even though we follow the education system in England, it more focus on teaching the technical skill of art rather than teaching the sense how you see the things in Hong Kong. I thought that it is lack of creative thinking in Hong Kong. This is the reason why I would like to study in other country. On the other hand, the curriculum of UK is more focusing on the creative thinking. I thought that studying in the UK is better for me.

apartamento - lee sau pan

apartamento - lee sau pan

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What are the different between female and male interior designer in Hong Kong?

In Hong Kong, most of the interior designers are male. It is because interior design is quiet hard job. You have to talk with the clients and workers all the time to explain your idea and the floor plan. Interior designer is not only working on the design, but also the agency between workers and clients and the organizer for the whole engineering project. The point is most of the workers are male. They do not really respect female designer. They do not really believe female designer. They thought those female designers are not really professional as male designer. It is because of men are usually more physically strong than women. Normally, people believe that men can handle more workload than women. It is a bit social identity problem in Hong Kong and also China.

What do you want to achieve?

I wish that I can become a successful interior designer. The most important aspect that makes men and women equal is their mental capacities. Women are on average smaller than men in terms of physical dimensions of their body. This also means that on average they have less physical strength. But in today world, physical strength is not very important, and therefore no justification for discriminating between men and women. Men and women have their obvious differences and one gender group tries to take on a skill of the other gender group they might face challenges. I just hope that I can become the same identity as male designer do.

apartamento - lee sau pan

apartamento - lee sau pan