Architecture-Rolling Hills

I don’t see myself as an environmental designer, I don’t try to actively make my designs ‘green’. What I try to do is use proven, low technology where I can, and use as much re-used, not recycled, material as possible. There are various benefits to this, the proven low technology, means that it’s normally very easy to build with unskilled labour. The fact that it’s low technology means that it’s cheap, and it’s running costs are low. By re-using material, there’s no energy loss on recycling it and then using it, so that’s cheaper.

The by-product of this process is that the design is actually environmentally friendly. By being economical first, the design becomes environmental. A refreshing change from designs that try to be environmental first and become un-economical because of it.

The tyre-rammed earth wall is a simple design that creates a large thermal mass, with a stable base and can actually get stronger over time. The natural growth and plants that accumulate on the exterior of the wall over time actually help to hold the earth together with their root system rather that destroy the structure like they would with a concrete wall. The thickness of the wall keeps the interior temperature more stable, reducing the need for cooling or heating systems along with wide base and plant finish, the design also is resistant to earth movement and excessive water.

Architecture-Turning Japanese

An idea I had after staying at a hotel with Japanese style beds. While I like the look and design of Japanese beds, I find them uncomfortable to sleep in because they’re so hard. So, I had the idea of getting the Japanese look, but with the comfort of a regular mattress.

This enlarged bed that I came up with could either be considered a type of four-poster bed, or the design could be extended to fill a whole room, making it Interior design.

The mattress sits on a low frame on the floor, a platform is then raised to the same level as the top of the mattress and finished with tatami mats. This gives the look that the bed is a lot thinner than it really is. The tatami mat platform can have hinged doors built into it, giving a large amount of storage underneath the raised platform.

The sides of the platform are finished with Japanese style wood and paper screens, that can be used either as a simple wall covering or doorway into the bed space, or can be utilised to keep furnishings hidden from view when not in use, a wall mounted television for example, or a built in closet. The screens can also be used in place of curtains or blinds in front of a window or balcony door. The elements of the bed design can be used to fit the space, regardless of its shape or size, making it a cheap and versatile interior system.

Furniture Design-Roll out the barrel

I mentioned a chair made from a barrel in one of my earlier posts, well here is the design in a little more detail.

The idea behind the design was to come up with a different way to use old beer/wine barrels in a bar setting where space was a priority. Here in Taiwan, seeing these barrels made into tables is quite common, and I felt that I didn’t want to repeat an existing design.

So I took the barrel and cut it in half, not a straight cut, but a stepped cut, this gives me a chair shape that includes the seat area and the backrest. All with one cut, on one barrel, giving me two chairs! So the basic design is quick, simple and efficient. To finish the chair a single disk of wood can be used, the disk can have the half of the edge cut off of it and be slotted into the barrel to make the seat, while the off-cut can be fixed to the top of the backrest. Finish the chair with a round-buttoned cushion.

The added benefit of this design is that for storage or alternative use, two chairs can be put back together like the original barrel to save space, or to be used as a barstool with the seat/backrest lip becoming the footrest of the barstool.

So one barrel equals two chairs, easy storage and one barstool.

Architecture-Old English/New Taiwan

An interior design project that was done for a friend. They wanted to open a bar/restaurant/office/art gallery here in Taipei, but wanted it to have a ‘traditional English’ feel to it.

So with the limitations of their budget in mind as well as the restrictions to the traditional decoration methods used in British pubs. I decided that the best way to design the space was to keep the was to keep all the walls as large as possible and plain white to allow for their use to display artwork. The main bar area would contain an open kitchen space to maximise the use of space and keep uninterrupted wall space to a maximum. The office space and bathroom were pushed to the back of the space to keep them out of the way and fitted around the existing load bearing structures that were in the space.

The look of the design kept the overall inside space plain white for the art gallery function, a dark timber beam ceiling was to be installed to start the ‘traditional’ elements of the space. The main ‘traditional’ feel of the place was to come from the bar and furniture, all were to be made with a dark natural wood and finished with brass fixtures and fittings with dark red leather trim.

Some of the furniture had double uses, the chairs were specially designed to save space and were made from old beer/wine barrels, and the tables could be dismantled and the table tops used as window shutters to increase the wall space for an art show or to protect the windows in the event of a typhoon.

The office space was kept small, but the walls were lined with a grid of shelves for maximum storage space. The shelves actually wrapped around the window or the office and one section of shelf extended into the middle of the room to create the offices communal desk, capable of seating three workers at a time.

The bathroom was specifically given a male and female area, unlike some shared bathrooms found in Taipei. With special care given to the facilities provided for the female bathroom, giving it more space and more than the minimum single toilet cubicle. All bathrooms were finished with an art deco black and white tile pattern and brass fixtures to give a classic and classy look.

Graphic Design-Here comes the bride

After being asked to design some wedding invitations, I started to think a little about the application and use of a wedding invitation. Here in Taiwan a wedding invitation doesn’t have to incorporate an rsvp or other method of response into the physical invitation, it is simply used to display information relevant to the wedding.

With that in mind and the restriction of using existing envelope sizes rather than custom made envelopes. That set the unit size for the invitation, but rather than using the traditional folds to allow the invitation to stand up I decides to roll the invitation into a tube to stand it up.

Using the tube form for the invitation means that it only need one side printed, reducing the printing costs, and all the information can be read while the invitation is flat. The designs on the tube form can differ, but they all have simple slot cuts to join the ends together and some of the designs have extra cutouts added to the design to enhance the overall look of the invitations.

The last little design feature of these invitations is that they can be used as mini paper lanterns. Once in their tube form, they can comfortably sit over a tealight candle and illuminate. This enhances the background patterns and cutouts that form the design of the invitation. With the transformation from invitation to lantern, the invitations can be used as little lanterns to decorate the tables at the wedding party.

Graphic Design-Blog Cards

A quick post to display our new business cards. Although technically we are not a business, maybe we should call them blog cards instead.

We kept the design simple but fun, using our logo to flank the information in the centre of the card. Printing the design onto a translucent plastic, one can complete the logo by flipping an additional card over and placing it next to the first.

Graphic Design-Adam and Eve

Most people know the story of Adam and Eve from the bible, the story of the first man and first woman according to bible-based religions. With us, it has a relation to our names in itself, and the associations of creation and new ideas of the design industry.

The two figures are representations of the name, Adam in green with a single leaf and Eve in red with two leaves. The leaves used to distinguish between male and female are fig leaves, often used by renaissance painters to cover the naked bodies of Adam and Eve in their masterpieces. This leaf motif is also carried over into our name, using a fig leaf in place of the ‘and’ in Adam and Eve.

Architecture-Going Underground

A competition entry, that won a special merit award. The brief of the project was to design the subway station of the future, while almost every other entry to the competition explored new technology in a perfect and polished future. I created a vision of a distopian future and the reuse and adaptation of the existing subway system into the cities of the future.

Utilizing advanced and experimental technology as a neccesity due to no other option being avaliable, and the conversion of exixting stations into small town centers that combine together to create the new city. With no geographical reference points underground, normal maps are useless and the stylized subway map becomes a real representation of the city rather than a simplified graphic of the city.

Work Work Work 事務所的建築設計

Employed as an Architect in Central London (UK) and in Taipei (Taiwan), working within small practices on high profile commercial, goverment and residential jobs. Part of several different teams working on different projects. Designs, materials, building systems, drawings, planning and building all undertaken within the team dynamic and by myself.

Architecture-A Grand Hole

Part of the 2012 London Olympic site, the area suffers from three major traffic routes through the heart of it, with little consideration given to the public access of the area.

The brief for the project was to provide a solution that allowed for the redevelopment of the area and allowed the segregated communities around it to become more integrated.

The suggested solution is to undercut the existing ground level to allow for a new pedestrian level that allows an easier cross flow of foot traffic, but at the same time makes the area more accessible to the existing vehicle traffic.

Architecture-Classic Italian

The birthplace of the Renaissance, Urbino is a walled city in Italy that hasn’t changed much for over 300 years. With the whole city designated a Unesco historical site, regulations on building in the city are prohibitive at best.

The brief was to provide a use for one of the abandoned sites around the city. The solution was to provide a new residence for a gardener and family to tend to the old orchard in the city. Allowing for an abandoned area to be opened up for public use and providing a new, yet traditional facade to a derelict elevation of the city.

Architecture-Island Paradise

An area of London that is prone to flooding, yet it essential to the expansion of the city.

The brief was to provide a solution that deals with the problems of the site without making them worse. The solution was not to defend against the flooding problem of the site, but to use it. Allowing the site to flood twice daily allows for an aquatic based community to be constructed around manufactured islands that use the local materials available and re-use the waste that has accumulated on the site over many years of neglect.