Interview with Chih Wen Chaw
Designer Interview
9 March 2013
As a young boy , I have always been inetersted in the fields of art and design . Ironically , I am diagnosed as color blind . Somehow , this did not deter me but I found ways to work with this condition . And I reckon , because of this , I am actually more sensitive to tonalities which is useful in both art and design.
The design studio is a small set up but with an interesting collaboration of designers , an engineer and a business driven director. We have between us resided in London , NYC , Hongkong , Shanghai , Beijing and Tokyo and we take with us these diverse experiences into out work and hopefully with these varied influences , be able to produce some interesting works
Design is first and foremost a question as it is an answer. In short , it should be a journey of constant discovery and for sure , a pleasurable journey.
I do not have a particular genre of work that is prefered but I prefer to design across various scales as I believe our sensitivity can be sharpened.
The paper clip . so simple yet so powerful .
An addition to school of advance studies at Princeton University while I was with Pelli Clarke Pelli architects
No favourite materials but to use materials that speaks of their inherent qualities.
No specific time
What is the "invention" . Is there progression from my previous designs?
When it performs not only the way I expected but also further suprises. This will help enrich one's experience .
Is there a knowledge contribution and if there is a position taken by the designer.
Deifferent designers play different roles in society , some are educators , some are facilitators , while some simply executes designs . So I would say the term designer is too generic a terms to pinpoint a certain reponsibility.
It is getting more streamlined with pigeon holing of design knowledge.
World architecture Festival 2012 . Not in Singapore
I think the most banal of obeservations can be sources of inspiration if we think hard enough.
Style is an over rated word but rather I like to think if having a consistent design principle wherby we think of ourselves not as "THE" designer but more like a facilitator that empowers individuals with the ability to exploit their own creativity.
Singapore. Its typically a very diverse country with different ethnicity and dialects. This lack of one strong identity is useful as there is no predominancy both socially and culturally . As a designer , this motivates us to carry on searching for what is unique to our society . Perhaps we may find the answer one day but perhaps we may not but I think its not important as I believe the process of the search itself is productive.
A good fit is important . Most designers have ceratin ambitions no matter how small they are. As such ambitions and expectations must align .
Design process is rather fluid . It however usually starts with a question and sometimes it remains a question even though the project is built .
Smeg fridge , An Ikea shelf , A muji tricycle , Coffee Machine , My bag
Thinking all day
Do some inetersting work and try to earn some money along the way
We love what we are doing which is the envy of some professions . But we sometimes love it too much and that can be detrimental
what is a golden rule ?
A sense of destruction
Internet, autocad , 3dmax
depends on scale
Who is your favourite architect
When I first worked in NYC with Pelli Clarke Pelli . Made me realsie designers are humans too .
Manor Properties , Playeum , National heritage Board of Singapore , Individual home owners
Work of different scales as i get bored easily.
Get back to work
Team preferably
A chiangmai hotel is in progress and despite doing the intitial submission , I am still trying to understand what is the one thing that will make me smile whne I talk about the project .
Via email chihwen@manor.com.sg