We wake up everyday with the world shifted, changed, developed, and re-invented. The ever rapid change of the world, pushes everyone of us to the edge of adaptation, mutation, metamorphosis and eventually, we re- invent our culture, our paths, our patterns, lifestyles, etc. How does interior design play a part in this re-invention?
Join REKA Conference this year with the theme of [RE:INVENT], the Interior Design conference of the year brought to you by Malaysian Institute of Interior Designers (MIID) in conjunction with REKA Design Week 2023, at KLCC Convention Centre.
Be with us, and join this international Interior Design platform to meet and get inspired from profound speakers from Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan and more!
Designer / Co-founder of we+ / Associate Professor at Musashino Art University
Born in 1982, graduated from Central Saint Martins, UK. Co-founder of we+, a contemporary design studio founded in 2013, that gives form to new perspectives and values using methods based on research and experimentation. The studio explores the possibilities of alternative design that establishes a close coexistence with the natural and social environment around us and incorporates a diversity of values that are often forgotten in today’s society, where convenience and rationality are sought. They participate in a wide range of corporate and organizational projects, including R&D, interior design, furniture design, and installation. Their clients include Hermès, Issey Miyake, Shiseido, LEXUS, MUJI, Marimekko, Japanese Ministry of the Environment, and Japanese Cabinet Office. Earned international design awards such as Wallpaper* Design Award (Best Elements of Surprise, 2023), Dezeen Awards (Emerging design studio of the year, Public Vote, 2022), EDIDA – ELLE DECOR International Design Awards (Young Designer of the Year, Nominated, 2019).Their work is owned as a permanent collection by Vitra Design Museum in Germany. The Jury in iF Design Award, and D&AD Awards. Associate Professor at Musashino Art University, and Visiting Professor at Tohoku University of Art & Design.
Less, Light, Local
NORI fades and is incinerated for reasons such as climate change
As the world’s largest consumer of seaweed, Japan has a rich history of seaweed processing technologies that produce a wide variety of edible seaweeds. Among these, ITA NORI, an edible seaweed sheet used for sushi and rice balls is a unique processed product with a deep connection to traditional Japanese craftsmanship. It is said to have been invented during the Edo period, and was derived from the Japanese handmade paper-making technique. This product demonstrates the wisdom of our ancestors, who conserved limited resources without waste and appreciated the gustatory qualities of this product. However, in recent years, rising water temperatures due to climate change and changes in ocean currents and ecosystems have led to numerous seaweeds growing wilted and lacking in nutrients. Many of these seaweeds are not edible for human consumption and commercial use, leading to their combustion and wastage.
Exploring the new value of the discarded / non-edible ITA NORI
‘Less, Light, Local’ is a research project and series of installations and lights that seek to give new value to this discarded / non-edible ITA NORI. They use the power of ARAKAWA GRIP technology, to bring out the two qualities of ITA NORI, lightness and sustainability. Just as ITA NORI originated from Japanese traditional craft, these series draw their inspiration from those handcrafted techniques, using local materials and techniques to create a simple design. It not only explores the future of products but also presents new ways of using ITA NORI as a new material, which is attracting interest from around the world as seaweed is a material deeply rooted in Japanese culture.
Refoam
Waste materials from Tokyo regarded as vernacular materials
Refoam is a series of furniture pieces that attempts to reframe today’s inappropriate and overly complex relationship between humans and materials. This project is part of we+’s research project, “Urban Origin”. By considering Tokyo as the origin of used materials, the project returns to the starting point of the relationship between humans and materials – “using vernacular materials and treating them simply with our own hands” – and explores new values for styrofoam.
Simplifying the recycling flow and processing methods
The material used is waste styrofoam that is collected in Tokyo. It is common for this material to be melted into ingots in intermediate treatment plants in Tokyo and its suburbs, and most are exported to Europe and SouthEast Asia. In these countries, they are treated into granules and then into inexpensive recycled plastic products, mainly from China. In Japan, these products are typically sold in 100 yen shops. Even though recycling rates are high, the process remains very complex, and the amount of transportation between countries is another problem. Refoam has therefore explored the possibility of making ingots in intermediate treatment plants for manufacturing furniture. The purpose of this project is to simplify the recycling process and, at the same time, to give a completely different value to styrofoam.
Link
Exploring the possibilities of discarded materials coming from commercial buildings
Link is research project which is the part of the Semba Ethical Design Thinking activities. This project is focusing on discarded building materials coming from the demolition of commercial buildings as well as mock-ups materials produced in large quantities during the planning and design stages, exploring the various possibilities of recycling. It provides an opportunity to consider an ideal way to incorporate mass-produced and consumed materials into a recycling system.
Current status of demolition and destruction of commercial buildings
Commercial buildings in Japan have an average lifespan of 5 to 10 years, from construction to demolition and disposal. Compared to offices and other spaces, the life cycle of those buildings is very short, which is one of the reasons why reducing waste and recycling materials is becoming a major issue. Buildings that were created with a lot of effort are being dismantled or demolished for several reasons. Even though they are still functional, they are being considered as non reusable. Through our project, we are exploring the various possibilities of recycling waste building materials other than material recycling and thermal recycling.
Inherit the memory and atmosphere of the place as a new material
By disassembling and reconstructing building materials that have lost their original functions, we are looking into the possibility of using them as new materials in order to bring out a different appeal while keeping the memories they inherited in the place they used to be. Waste building materials such as wood, metal, and bricks are crushed into small pieces and solidified with different degrees of granularity. The rough grains are used as materials that create patterns whereas the fine grains are transformed into pigments. These physical modifications lead to the creation of new expressions. Other than grains, the oxidation of the metal gives more depth to the expression. After those transformations, the materials are molded to create a modular system for a variety of applications, from furniture to wall surfaces. The ideas and the design process of this project can be applied to different contexts and with other waste materials.
Beauty Innovation 2020
Inspired by the wind that occurs in the natural environment such as the gusts of leaves blown on updrafts in the city, the installation visualises the complex and diverse forms of beauty that emerge from the uncontrolled, random movement of paper and wind. By embodying Shiseido’s corporate philosophy: “The Diversity of Beauty Creates Innovation That Leads to a Better World”, we+ aims to present an effective use of technology to eliminate its presence and extract the behaviour of nature. Beauty Innovation 2020 is comprised of 80 circular pieces of textured paper arranged uniformly in 5 vertical columns and 16 rows perpendicular to extremely thin wires running the height of the case. A small circulator sits directly below, initiating the paper’s undulating movement and rhythm controlled by a regulated airflow. When gusts of air collide, unplanned movements of wind and light occur, creating organic gestures almost as if the paper itself is alive and dancing. By abstracting these forms, it allows the fluctuations of natural phenomena to take centre stage. Situated amongst tall skyscrapers and buildings in Tokyo, the display recreates a deep sense of nature for passersby in an unexpected city centre, drawing out the beauty from the familiarity of natural phenomena and inciting greater empathy and immersion.
RESONANCE: VORTEX to DIVERSITY
This large-scale installation is coated with CHROMASHINE®, a metallic pigment developed by Toyo Aluminium, that is coloured by “light interference” and that changes colour depending on the angle from which it is viewed. A vortex-shaped object covered with CHROMASHINE® was created, revealing countless colors in a single pigment. It presents itself as a colourful embodiment of a world full of diversity, where new values are nurtured as a result of different aspects meeting and resonating. In nature, a vortex is formed when two qualitatively different states come into contact: liquid and gas, fast and slow, warm and cold, thick and thin, heavy and light. In other words, a vortex can be described as a shape that visualizes the process where different things meet and fuse together to create something completely different. By combining a vortex with CHROMASHINE® that shows various colours depending on the viewing angle, a representation of the world is drawn where new values are created out of diversity.
Swofinty Yik
Swofinty Yik founded the practice in 2008 and continues to retain responsibility for its design directions. He learnt the art of design and management while working with some of the best-known designers, working at these companies continued to provide him with a worldwide perspective on design at greater level while cultivating and abreast the nuances and complexities in design.
Swofinty worked across ASIA and since its inception has amassed accolades in the way of press, awards, and conferences.
Swofinty perceives interior design as an art of making and a life journey full of discovery. The expression reflects his enthusiasm for the way of life and for designing interiors and how closely he believes they are bound. Swofinty is both a pragmatist and an imagineer, to him interior design is a process in which ideas are developed through the amalgam of research and test, driven by imagination and curiosity.
Swofinty trained at LimKokWing University with Curtin University and was awarded the scholarship in Interior Architecture. He was a tutor and has held visiting panels in various universities.
MARISA YIU
Co-Founder, Lead Curator/ Executive Director, DESIGN TRUST
Marisa Yiu is co-founder and Executive Director/ Lead Curator of DESIGN TRUST, an initiative since 2014 of the registered charity Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design. She conceptualized the Design Trust Futures Studio flagship programme as a design community think-tank on new designs for public micro-parks in Hong Kong, to programmes on Heritage and innovation. She is also an architect and Founding Partner of ESKYIU, a multi-disciplinary and award-winning architecture studio based in Hong Kong since 2007, founded in New York in 2005. She was the Chief Curator of the 2009 Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture; curated POP-UP Studio-X Shenzhen, and along with her partner Eric Schuldenfrei of ESKYIU, the duo has been awarded the prestigious 2010 ‘Architectural League Prize’ for their installations featured in the Venice Biennale. At present, Marisa continues to focus with rigor and passion on DESIGN TRUST’s projects and programmes in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area region with its international partners.
NARONG OTHAVORN
Founder, principal Architect
Over almost a decade, SO has been working on various type of small to medium size project,both interior and architecture design.
We have combined any aspect of design from human to architectural language to tackle any problems and realistic situations to turn any existing and its petentials to become something more and attractive to people with their surrounding.
NELSON CHOW
Raised in Hong Kong and Canada, Nelson is a New York State licensed architect. He received his Master of Architecture from The University of Waterloo (Canada) in 2004 and, after completing a Menswear Tailoring Certificate at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City in 2005, joined the international design and concept firm AvroKO at their New York City office. Since establishing NCDA in 2011, Nelson has emerged as one of the region’s most innovative design studios with a collection of head-turning projects around the region. His highly inventive, sophisticated work with its finger on the pulse of commercial design has also caught the attention of leading media around the world including Wallpaper*, Dezeen and ArchDaily.