A wave of young designers is breaking the traditional perception of what constitutes brilliant ideas with their fresh, exploratory and ingenious take on design. We feature three of them here - young men with awe-inspiring creativity.

Former rock star-turned-designer Michel Rojkind has gained superstar status with his trademark innovative designs.

He has established a common design language that is appreciated the world over. Just look at his delightful architectural concept for the Nestle Chocolate Museum in Mexico. The under-construction Tori Tori Japanese restaurant that celebrates eastern appeal in the heart of western Mexico and the Mexican Pavilion for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai are among his other creative gems.

In Hong Kong and China, architectural and product designer Gary Chang continues to stir creative souls with his inimitable design concepts. Creative configurations of small spaces are his specialisation. Thus the overwhelming attention to his 250 sq m Suitcase House built in Nangou Valley, China, and the intricate, aesthetic and ever-changing possibilities taking place within the limited confines of his 32 sq m Hong Kong apartment.

Chang was also part of an illustrious group of international designers invited to create a coffee and tea set for Alessi. This certainly speaks volumes for  his international stature and the power of design in embracing the universal language of aesthetics.

Japanese designer Hiromichi Konno was in town recently. He shared his thoughts on the Rin Chair, which took him four years to design. The Rin Chair has found its way into the legendary Fritz Hansen collection that boasts iconic pieces such as the Egg Chair, the Swan Chair, the Ant Chair and the Grand Prix Chair.

The designer’s Japanese roots and international exposure not only manage to bridge but also seal the cultural divide between the design minimalism style rooted in the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun and the Danish design sensibilities that are synonymous with Fritz Hansen’s pieces. It is clear that Konno’s designs resonate with international appeal.
Read on to find out more about these designers.


Rock-solid creative architecture
One-time rock star Michel Rojkind’s decision to trade in his drums for design has only served to win him greater international stardom as an architect capable of holding his own in the international arena.

The prolific portfolio of projects his design practice has planted in different parts of the world bears strong testimony to his widespread appeal. As the principal in charge of his architectural practice in Rojkind Arquitectos, Rojkind recalls a time when he was “doing both things at the same time” — studying architecture while playing in the band and surviving on a mere four hours of sleep a day.
“It was interesting because of the different perspectives in my way of seeing things. One important fact was I earned money from the band, which made it very comfortable to do architecture without the pressure of money income,” says Rojkind in an email interview.

Today, this sense of designing with an elevated sense of freedom has caused him to soar above his contemporaries while undertaking various projects in different continents of the world.
“We have undertaken [everything] — from very small refurbishment [projects] to big city masterplans. And we are proud of every single one,” says Rojkind.

Asked to name his favourite project, he singles out the recent commission of the R432 50-storey mixed-use high-rise in Paseo de la Reforma, which is one of Mexico City’s most important and prominent avenues.

It is clear, however, that every project matters to Rojkind, whose design career has earned him several invited professorships, lectures, jury chairs, awards and commissions.

Rojkind has come a long way from his “first tailor-suited project” — fondly referred to as the PR34 House in Tecamachalco, Mexico, comprising a rooftop apartment designed for his client’s daughter.

“The structure resembles a ballet dancer since she is a ballerina. The red colour illustrates her passion for life. This house is a technological marvel — the walls and ceilings are covered in wood and pressed cardboard, the exterior is clad in painted steel, refined to a fleshy smoothness by automotive panel beaters; [and] the technical systems are installed in a gap between the walls,” explains Rojkind.

Currently, the firm is kept busy working on projects including the Tori Tori Restaurant, which is a Japanese restaurant located in Polanco, Mexico City. It is still under construction. This restaurant is anticipated to showcase the creative work Rojkind has done in promoting the right cross-cultural architectural appreciation that manages to bridge the gap between two distinctively different cultures.

Among the other architectural gems the firm is currently kept occupied with include Gomez Morin — comprising a 12-storey mixed-use building that contains retail, housing and other amenities in Monterrey, Mexico — and the Mexican Pavilion for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai — the result of a private invitation to a competition in China.

Other built gems that have cemented the firm’s reputation as an architectural firm par excellence include the Nestle Application group laboratories in Queretaro, Mexico; the Nestle Chocolate Museum in Toluca, Mexico; and the Falcon office headquarters in San Angel, Mexico City.

Meeting Michel Rojkind
Have you always been inclined towards design?
I do not come from a designers’ family. I´ve always loved design from the perspective of seeing how design can help us in the different aspects of contemporary society.

Where were you trained?
I would say life, but I have to give credit to the Universidad Iberoamericana, the school where I studied Architecture and Urban Planning in Mexico City.

Where is the design trend of the future heading?
Projects that are capable of giving back and which are able to “link the different actors with different needs [including] political, social, private investment, infrastructure, and more”. The projects will have to “perform and respond better” to the city. Sustainable design will also no longer be an option, it will be a law.

What makes your work stand out?
We are very passionate about our work; I think that is what people see in our projects.

Your advice to young designers.
Follow your heart and beliefs.

Qualities important in the world of design.
Smart and meaningful designs that have a formal expression.

The most challenging part when it comes to designing.
Getting things built.



Maximising minimal spaces
Gary Chang is known as the design maestro of small spaces. His own ingeniously designed 32 sq m apartment in the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong is in itself a tough act to follow. Not to mention the countless projects handled by his practice, including public housing projects in Gifu, Japan, and a vacation house project in Moscow with tight spaces ranging from 40 sq m to 60 sq m.

Multiplying the use of a single space into endless functional uses, Hong Kong-born Chang worked with granite, steel panels, frost mirrors and hand-brush paint to transform and realign the look and feel in the space.

At a moment’s notice, the space can be transformed into a bedroom, a walk-in closet, a TV or game room — according to the needs of the occupant at any given time. The ver y s ame space can also, in the wink of an eye, become a spa, dining or kitchen area or even a laundry, library, study area, cinema or party area hosting 20 guests.

Growing up in the space-deprived and “very tight” living conditions of his childhood — in a 32 sq m Hong Kong apartment — fuelled his ambition to study architecture and space planning to address the small confines of the small apartment shared with his parents and three sisters.

Having purchased this very same unit, this graduate of the School of Architecture, University of Hong Kong, and now the principal of EDGE Design Institute Ltd, continues to reside in it. The full force of his creativity is in this space.

Like a magician, the effect of sliding doors and other state-of-the-art technology are summoned and quickly open new dimensions introducing new functions and forms.

Chang reckons that the private boundary of the home is now extending into public spaces, especially in countries characterised by hyper-density as in Hong Kong and Toyko, Japan. The “concept of home and its boundary” also transcends worldwide borders as overseas travel becomes a norm.

The architecture of the Suitcase House in North Beijing, which he designed and which spans 250 sq m, resonates with timber, pneumatic brackets and slate panels and has drawn much attention worldwide.

There’s no doubt that part of Chang’s genius lies in his ability to win over both Western and Eastern audiences with his style, which is  rooted in Eastern ideals and Western aesthetics while addressing the world’s problem of scarcity of land.

So influential is his design that Chang was specially invited by Alessi at the tail end of 2000 to be one of 22 architects/designers to design a tea or coffee set in the “Tea and Coffee Towers” project, which represents a sequel to the “Tea and Coffee Piazza” project in the 1980s. The Kung-Fu Tea Set that was officially launched at the Milan Furniture Fair in April 2003 took 2½ years to complete.

Candid talk with Gary Chang
Why has your apartment garnered such a following?
I am always fascinated by the notion of the finite and the infinite mathematically. I always treat my own apartment as a place for experiments, incorporating factors such as time, place, habit, lighting to create a compact space based on the notions of flexibility and transformability. The list of possibilities could be endless.

Products you’ve designed.
We have the two projects designed in collaboration with Alessi in the Kung-Fu Tea Set and Treasure Box for Urban Nomads, which was co-organised by the Hong Kong Design Center in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover to China, that are of compact size in general. Then, there’s the light sculpture in “light hotel” and multi-purpose sofa Wessie and Tiborg that you can find in our studio.

How do you go about ‘designing across borders’?
It’s essentially the blurring of boundaries that has become our core value in design. This strategy came about as a result of the phenomenon of “complexity”, crossing the boundaries or recognising the “relationships” amongst other things.

Advice for young designers.
Be very stubborn (insistent) on things you strive for. Be passionate about the profession... Be inspired by everything, how people do (ordinary) things, be sensitive about people/events that happen around you... Everything is related to architecture and that’s the beauty of the profession.

Design trends of the near future.
Design trend in future is no-trend or multi-trends as there would be many approaches to perform one task in the age of ultra-complexity. Sustainability is not a trend but a MUST. Compact space is actually part of the bigger picture of sustainability as it implies smart use of resources, be it time or space!

Projects you’re working on.
The latest project in Hong Kong is a 25-storey “pencil tower” (a very small footprint of 22 sq m usable area on each floor) at the Mid-Levels, next to the Mid-Levels Escalator.

Chang on the Kung-Fu Tea Set
Every dinner at our grandparents’ home ends with small sips of kung-fu tea made by my grandfather, my consultant for the Tea and Coffee Towers 2000 project. It’s always fun to watch my grandpa make the tea, with each step being so sophisticated yet so rational. I decided to begin my project from this very personal experience.

As in most of my projects, I observed the locality of where I belong: Hong Kong. I looked into another day-to-day phenomenon of having lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, having dim-sum, which literally means “a little bit from the heart”. These baskets of dim sum are piled up in the middle, like a mind game as the food inside the baskets is not fully exposed to view. The whole process of eating becomes a vigorous exercise in fighting against the tight space within the micro-environment of the restaurant and then of the table.

The collage of the dim sum baskets was literally transformed into our Kung-Fu Tea Set, created out of an ensemble of sterling silver from Italy and Chinese red clay from Yixing, China. It features different elements for various functions that can pile up according to different scenarios.


A chair for all seasons
What’s in a chair? Plenty, says the designer of The Rin Chair, Hiromichi Konno. “Many chairs are made for looking at or for sitting down. But this one combines both elements. It’s comfortable and holds you well, easy to move front and back and it swivels,” teases Konno, who was in Kuala Lumpur recently to launch the chair that took him four years (the longest time he has worked on a single design) to perfect.

Konno is the first Asian to design for the legendary Republic of Fritz Hansen collection — which is the producer of some of the world’s most iconic pieces as seen in the Swan Chair, the Egg Chair, the Ant Chair and countless others.

He recalls a field trip to Copenhagen in Denmark when he was studying industrial design and seeing the 3017 Chair by Arne Jacobsen.

“Arne Jacobsen’s products made me realise that I would like to make products such as these. The feeling I had then and the quality I had experienced — that’s what prompted me to work with Fritz Hansen. I fell in love with what Fritz Hansen stands for as well as its design philosophy.”

The 37-year-old Konno’s experience living in London, Sweden and Japan has shaped his distinctive design style. This Bachelor of Design graduate from the Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan later pursued his Masters of Design at the University of Umeaa in Sweden and participated in a competition organised by Louis Poulsen in conjunction with its 125th anniversary. He then went on to work with London designer Ross Lovegrove.

After being on his own for three years, Konno approached Fritz Hansen and proposed his idea of creating an iconic chair for the brand. The rest, as they say, is history.

Hiromichi Konno, uncut
Where is the future of design headed?
Design is actually becoming borderless. It’s not just because companies around the world are becoming increasingly international, but that design has become a common language uniting people from across all walks of life. This is not a trend that I fear. As a designer, I would like to design for as many people as possible.

Are your designs more Japanese or European in orientation?
There are elements of design that people might consider Japanese. However, there are great similarities between Swedish and Japanese designs.

What is the secret of great design?
First, try and observe what’s around you. I’m a very good observer and like to observe even how people drink coffee… Instead of just designing, you need to “feel with your heart”.

What’s next, after the Rin Chair?
Hopefully next time, I’ll be able to create the Rin collection. I love families! I would love to create a family collection encompassing tables, lounge chairs and office chairs under this range. To date, I must say my two-year-old daughter is the greatest fan of my Rin Chair. My desire is to leave a design legacy for the next generation.

Design philosophy.
I have come to the conclusion that I should pursue aesthetic elements which stimulate human senses and makes people feel happy and fulfilled.

Trends for 2010.
In general, colours are making a comeback in many products. This is not necessarily my preference but what I’m observing taking place internationally, probably due to the bad economy which is making people want to splash on colours to light up the space.

Advice to future designers.
I’m also young (laughs)… Don’t give up and have a passion for what you do.

This article appeared in haven, Issue #40, Dec 2009 + Jan 2010, the deco and garden publication of The Edge Malaysia