| PolyU Students’ Design for The Future Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong | Editor |
(From lower left: Mr Manfred Yuen (PolyU Design), Mr Sjoerd Hoekstra (PolyU Design), Mr Jonas Schuermann (Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong), Mr Byron Wong (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group), Dr Kacey Wong (PolyU Design), and Mr Horace Pan (PolyU Design).
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) joined hands with the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong in organising the “Hotel of the Future” competition in celebration of the hotel’s 50th anniversary.
A total of 39 year-two Environment and Interior Design students from PolyU participated in the seven-week programme from 25 March to 14 May this year, forming teams to design certain areas of the hotel, including “rooms and suites”, “lobby and reception”, “spa”, “food and beverage outlets” and “function rooms” with the theme of the next 50 years. Their designs incorporated the history of Hong Kong, the surrounding area and the design elements of this iconic hotel which ultimately presents “a sense of place” to the guests.
The shortlisted teams presented their designs to the management of Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, the Head of Design of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and the faculty of PolyU School of Design (PolyU Design) on 14 May. Lee Kwok Kwong and Mak Chu Leung were selected as the winning team. With the concept of “Spreadism”, Kwong and Leung elegantly centred on the phenomenon of Chinese ink spreading out in water and on paper. They created a multi-functional zone in the double height area of the hotel with the use of spreading-out ink stones commonly seen in Chinese paintings. The stones are used to form an exhibition area or stage for jazz performances according to the purpose of space, and to allow guests to interact with not only each other but also the space.
“I was truly impressed and delighted to see the enthusiasm of not only the students but also the professors,” said Mr Jonas Schuermann, General Manager of Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. “What struck me the most was how the students captured the essence of the brand and were able to visually capture what luxury means to today’s affluent travellers.”
“The PolyU Design’s visionary proposals were supported with serious analysis and imagination. The students’ ideas possess ample intelligence with a refreshing sprinkle of innocence,” added Mr Byron Wong, Head of Design of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.
The winning prize is a three-night “Travelling Scholarship” to another iconic hotel in the group, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, where the team will submit a travelling report. The eight finalist projects will be put on display from 1 July to 4 August at the Clipper Lounge and an award presentation will be held at the PolyU Design Annual Show opening ceremony in August.
Education at PolyU emphasises work-based learning experience and collaboration with the industry to help students better appreciate what they have learnt in class, so as to integrate theory with practice, to enhance all-round development and to make better career plans. The teaching team at PolyU Design who led the student project included Horace Pan, Kacey Wong, Manfred Yuen, Peter Hasdell and Sjoerd Hoekstra.
Learn about the design concept of Spreadism and read more…
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 28.06.13 | No Comments » |
| Hugging Root, the most innovative use of space | Editor |
Hugging Root, a design by Miracle Hui, Kenneth Hung and Sam Hui, year 2 students of BA(Hons) in Design (Environment & Interior), has recently received “The Most Innovative Use of Space Award” at the Nurturing Interior Design Talents competition organized by The Mira Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Interior Design Association. The competition was organized to provide a platform for future designers to showcase their talent in hotel furniture design.
Hugging Root is a furniture design project that demonstrates the most imaginative and interesting interpretation of spatial arrangement. It was selected among the projects from subject SD3531 E&I Design Studio 2.2 earlier in Oct. Special thanks to the teaching team: Horace Pan, Peter Hasdell, Sjoerd Hoekstra and Manfred Yuen.
The Hugging Root together with other award-winning projects can now be found on the 3/F of The Mira, Tsimshatsui, until tomorrow (21 Nov), and will then be showcased at the Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards gala at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 22 Nov.
Mr Horace Pan (bottom left) and the award-winning team
Concept and Story of the Hugging Root
Being in the Hugging Root is like living in your mother’s arms. It will always give you protection and warmth, there always feels safe. The root surrounding them will give them a feeling of being enclosed, wrapped and hugged. When they play inside the root’s openings, rest or sleep there, they can always feel embraced.
The Hugging root concept is developed with orphans in mind. The structure of the root is like the mother’s arm keeping many orphans under her arms and her arms link all together to become a big family. The Hugging root provides many spaces, pockets and places you can snuggle in, each one different and each one giving the feeling of hug whatever they are doing. It can be used as an indoor play structure or children’s furniture piece.
The Hugging root uses felt to provide a soft feeling for its users. The system of construction is developed as a soft structure through the folding of felt, layering and stitching provide strength and flexibility and allow each sitting space or pocket to be folded in a way to squeeze in or hug when someone sits there through the action of the persons weight.
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 20.11.12 | No Comments » |
| Cordially inviting you to PolyU Design Annual Show 2012 | Editor |
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 04.05.12 | No Comments » |
| 18 fresh brands presented by Design Direct | Editor |
“ We are moving into a hyper integrated world in which all aspects of production — raw materials, design, manufacturing, distribution, fulfillment, financing and branding — have become commodities that can be accessed from anywhere by anyone.” – Friedman NYT. Nov 24 Column “Advice from Grandma”.
A small band of young & emerging designers in Hong Kong are changing the rules of the traditional industrial design industry.
Using the internet, self-branding & low-cost Asian manufacturing to go direct to the consumer, this young generation of designers poses the question, “are companies & clients becoming obsolete?”
Design Direct, an exhibition held previously at the SD Gallery on 25th May to 10th June 2011, presented 18 emerging design brands by the year-2 students from BA (Hons) Industrial & Product Design – each with their unique personality & an empowering portfolio of products. Each brand shows a simple & successful bridge between designer & consumer. We hope you enjoy browsing through the brands. We expect to see much more coming from these young design entrepreneurs.
The brands were created for the subject tutored by Dr Ernesto Spicciolato, Dr Roger Ball & Mr Michael Leung from the Industrial & Product teaching team.
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 17.08.11 | 2 Comments » |
| Wanchai Visual Archive Inauguration Exhibition, May 24-July 31, Wed-Sun, 4-8pm | Editor |
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 23.06.11 | No Comments » |
| PolyU Design Annual Show 2011, 1-14 June. See you soon! | Editor |
The journey to good design involves the constant search of the delicate balance between simplicity and complexity, emotion and rationality, theory and practicality. At PolyU Design, students explore these major attributes before making a design decision.
Join us at the PolyU Design Annual Show 2011 to see future designers from Advertising, Digital Media, Environment & Interior, Industrial & Product, and Visual Communication disciplines turn fresh ideas into works of beauty and function.
Date: 1 – 14 June (opens daily)
Exhibition Opening Hours: 11:30 – 20:30
Opening Ceremony: 1 June 14:30 (by invitation)
Venue: InnoCentre, 72 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong
Presented by over 200 graduating students of this cohort from
BA (Hons) in Design (Advertising Design /Environment & Interior Design /Industrial & Product Design /Visual Communication Design)
BA (Hons) in Digital Media
Higher Diploma in Multimedia Design and Technology
Higher Diploma in Product Innovation Technologies
www.AS2011.info
Free Admission
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 13.05.11 | No Comments » |
| A Matter of Experiences, not taking it for granted | Editor |
The A Matter of Experiences Exhibition which was held at the SD Gallery for last two weeks, has concluded yesterday.
Exhibited were the works done by the year-one students of BA(Hons) in Design (Visual Communication) for the 10-week subject “Book and Publication”. The exhibits were the outcome of the first 5 weeks which covers bookmaking, toolbox or portfolio, A4/A3-size booklet and poster-booklet.
The aim of this first part of the subject is to enhance the students’ tangible experience of making a book/box with physical materials. It is a prelude, intended to strengthen their individual sensitivity for designing a book with special attention to texture, color, line, plane, form and space (printed/digital elements). Emphasis is placed on a conceptual understanding of a simple sheet of paper. This is essential for an in-depth understanding of how a sequence of papers relate to book design. Including texts and images, methods of cutting and folding, and considering time and space, all of which become the visible and the invisible elements of the works exhibited. The three assignments were to design an A4 and an A3 booklet and a poster-booklet which gives the students a practice for generating original printed publications, and for finding access to developing their own philosophy and concept for creating.
The exhibition was curated by Esther LIU, Associate Professor of School of Design.
Participants included:
CHAN Kit San
CHEUNG Chi Ling
CHEUNG Ka Po
CHONG Tak Sam
CHUN Kai Fung
HO Lut Hin
KAN Yuen Ting
LAM Oi Keat
LAM Pui Yuk
LAU Ka Man
LAU Yik Tung Alex
LEE Ching Yee
LEE Ka Man
LEE Yin Chung
LI Ting Ting
LIN Rongwei
MAK Long
PANG Ho Jing
WANG Yung
WU Yee Kwan
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 15.04.11 | No Comments » |
| GASP! Art Alive @ Park! public art exhibition in Kowloon Park | Editor |
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 28.12.10 | No Comments » |
| PolyU Design’s exhibition stand design wins prestigious red-dot | Rennie Kan |
PolyU Design’s exhibition stand design won the eyes of the red dot award judging panel and was awarded the prestigious red dot communication award. The exhibition was set up at the annual Business of Design Week 2009’s Inspiration Hall.
The brief was to build a space that is: 1) Highly efficient in order to encapsulate the variety of programs and initiatives at the School; and 2) be able to highlight individual designs, and entice visitors to stay and go through all exhibits at the stand. Through a rigorous tender process, Oval Design provided a solution that meet the requirements and also create a positive visiting experience.
Quoting Oval’s press release on receiving the award: “[Oval] designed an intriguing space that changed incessantly by means of a moving curtain to heighten viewers’ interest in the exhibits — the work of young design graduates of the School. The moving curtain running on electrical railings created a space that was constantly being configured by the changing position of the curtain, making for a highly individualized experience because each visitor’s impression of the exhibition and viewing sequence of the exhibits were unique. Visitors were also captivated by the optical illusions formed by patterns produced by the moving strings.”
Dennis Wong of Oval Design was the Creative Director for the project and a proud graduate of PolyU Design. He won the red dot communication design award with this stand design, together with the Macau Pavilion design at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The two winning projects can be viewed online at www.red-dot.de from December 9, 2010 through January 9, 2011.
PolyU Design will be at the Inspiration Hall again this year from 2-4 Dec. Come share our latest brainwaves on design!
| CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE>> | 19.10.10 | No Comments » |
| PolyU Design at AXIS Design Showcase | Pierre Tam | |
| Paddling Home on Victoria Harbor | Rennie Kan | |
