KODW 2013 started off with the Include Asia Conference, a 2-day program focused on inclusive design. The biennial conference debuts in Hong Kong since its launch in 2001 in London, partnering The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design (PolyU Design), the Royal College of Art (RCA) and Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) for the first time. This year’s theme ‘Global Challenges and Local Solutions in Inclusive Design’ spurs participants to explore and respond to concerns such as ageing population, climate change and rapid urbanisation for individuals and communities.
Held at Hotel ICON, the program welcomed keynote speaker, Kathryn Firth, Chief of Design at London Legacy Development Corporation. Also speaking at the conference was Paul Thompson of RCA, Keiji Kawahara of International Association for Universal Design, and Dan Formosa of Smart Design, who also held workshops.
As tradition, the Include Conference committee recognises members of the inclusive design field for their contributions to the community. This year’s recipients of the Champion of Inclusive Design were Yasuyuki Hirai (Kyushu University, Japan), Joseph Kwan (UDA Consultants Ltd.), and our very own, Michael Siu Kin Wai (PolyU Design). We would also like to congratulate Susan Barnwell and Jasmien Herssens on winning the Best Paper Awards.
(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…
With immense pride, the School of Design of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU Design) – Asia’s best among the world’s top 25 design schools – is thrilled to announce that Professor Roger Ball has been named one of only eight recipients of an endowed professorship in PolyU’s first-ever Endowed Professorship Scheme.
At a special inauguration ceremony held on 29 May at the PolyU campus, Professor Ball was singled out for his outstanding academic and research achievements and officially awarded the Eric C. Yim Professorship in Asian Ergonomics. Mr. Eric Yim, who founded the highly successful design firm POSH Office Systems and serves as its Chairman and CEO, generously underwrote the professorship.
Professor Ball has won international recognition for his trailblazing work at SD’s Asian Ergonomic Lab, founded in 2003 and soon after awarded a multimillion dollar grant for its first major project, SizeChina. An innovative 3D survey of Chinese heads and faces, SizeChina helps designers make consumer products that properly fit Asian body sizes. 90% of all consumer products are based on body shape data from Western people.
Professor Ball’s work has resulted in significant funding awards, consultancy projects with leading corporations, and most recently this prestigious endowment. Professor Ball and his team at the Asian Ergonomic Lab have boosted PolyU’s rising reputation as an influential world-class research institution.
Professor Ball’s primary research is to collect through digital scanning the full range of sizes and shapes of the Chinese population, such as their hands, feet and ears. The data from SizeChina is already poised to be used by diverse faculties within PolyU, including Health and Social Sciences, Engineering, Applied Science and Textiles, and Nursing.
Whether designing new respiratory protection products or paving the way for better-fitting eyewear, shoes and automobiles, Professor Ball has tremendously contributed to both academic and industry interests. The SizeChina Project led to the first-ever digital database of Asian head and face sizes for extensive use by manufacturers and designers.
SizeChina is training the next generation of designers with cutting-edge technologies. PolyU Design as a whole has developed practical workshops, curricula and textbooks, positioning its graduates and partners in Hong Kong and across the globe to create truly revolutionary applications in popular industries such as electronics, fashion, transportation, furniture, and medical devices, to name just a few exciting possibilities.
The School of Design joins everyone at PolyU in extending heartfelt congratulations to Professor Ball and his pioneering team at the Asian Ergonomic Lab. Their fascinating work is inspiring and meaningfully changing our everyday life for the better.
Three teams of young creatives from advertising agencies were recently selected to represent Hong Kong in leading international awards shows (Young Creative Section) this year. Each winning team was formed by two members, among which one worked on art direction, another copywriting. All of the art directors are Advertising graduates of PolyU Design.
They are:
Wong Ming Lun, Alan, Class of 2009 (Art Director, TBWA Hong Kong)
Tse Kin Wai, Donald, Class of 2010, ‘Best of Show’ (Assistant Art Director, Publicis Hong Kong)
Shum Wing Yan, Rita, Class of 2011 (Associate Art Director, JWT Hong Kong)
The teams from TBWA, Publicis and JWT will compete in the Adfest Young Lotus in Thailand in March, Cannes Young Lions in France in June, and Young Spikes in Singapore in September respectively. They went through a strict judging process by the HK4As’ team of professional judges. The achievement has laid a tremendous stepping stone for their future career and international exposure.
Read more>>
With the impressive design concepts of their final year projects, PolyU Design students from Interior and Environment, and Industrial and Product Design swept five awards from two competitions as 2012 came to the end. The list of award winners is as follow:
The 20th Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards
http://www.apida.hk/2012/
Mr Tommy Yeung Kwun Ting
BA(Hons) in Design (Environment & Interior), Class of 2012
Project: Seaweedscape
Supervising tutor: Valerie Portefaix
Award: Student Category Bronze Award
2012 Perspective Awards
http://www.perspectiveglobal.com/perspective-awards
Mr Gideon Lai Ming Ho
BA(Hons) in Design (Industrial & Product), Class of 2012
Project: High Walker
Supervising tutor: Scot Laughton
Award: TROPHY (First Prize 冠軍) of Product Design, Student Category
Ms Chloe Yau Chiu Ting
BA(Hons) in Design (Environment & Interior), Class of 2012
Project: Stilt Walker-A New Cultural Hostel Experience in Tai O
Supervising tutor: Horace Pan
Award: Certificate of Excellence of Space, Student Category
Mr Tai Ka Cheong
BA(Hons) in Design (Industrial & Product), Class of 2012
Project: Sounds Amass
Supervising tutor: Benny Leong
Award: Certificate of Excellence of Product Design, Student Category
Mr SO Ho Lung, Bosco & Mr CHO Hing, Nathan
BA(Hons) in Design (Environment & Interior), Class of 2012
Project: Greenshaft (note: This is not a final-year project but an assignment on Redemptive Landscape Architecture.)
Award: Certificate of Excellence of Architecture, Student Category
Click here to read project details>>
With their innovative concept for designing a smart kitchen, four students of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Design (PolyU Design) have recently won the Best Design Team Award at the Collaborative Innovation Design Workshop held during the fourth International Art & Design Academic Month organized by Tsinghua University.
The PolyU Design team competed against six other teams, which came from Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, School of Design of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology of Taiwan, Department of Industrial Product Design of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, and other three universities in China.
The workshop brief was to design an integrated concept for family kitchen which caters for Chinese lifestyle. The PolyU Design team designed “A Smart Kitchen On-demand”, which is set up to cater for the needs of modern Chinese cooking and dining behaviors. It is designed to enhance the value of the kitchen in a family, providing a platform to communicate, share and show caring. The design provides a solution making kitchen no longer a fixed space at home but part of the living room.
The PolyU Design team, consisted of four year three students of Industrial & Product Design, won the award for their outstanding performance of teamwork and design concept. “We are very excited and surprised to win the award from this large-scale design workshop, where other teams were highly professional and some of them were formed by master’s students,” Jack Chun Yueng -chiu, one of the members of the PolyU Design team said. The team was led by Mr Fred Han, Assistant Professor of PolyU Design, other team members included Yan Hei Ho, Tung Ting Kan and Bao Bo.
“We noticed that most people do not enjoy cooking at all,” Jack Chun explained. “We hope to design an environmentally friendly kitchen system, which could turn cooking into a joyful experience and at the same time, act as health consultant and cooking process assistant.”
The workshop and the fourth International Art & Design Academic Month was held from 10 to 14 December 2012 in Guangzhou, China.
More about the project>>
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.
Prof Michael Siu and the Public Design Lab brought us good news from Shanghai last week. The Ceremony of the 2012 Successful Design Awards – China was held on 4 November where BrailleWise (飛機共融衛生間) won the Diamond Award, the highest among the Top 16 Selections. Smart Electrical Vehicle Charging Station (SEVCS), a collaborative project with EE, IC and FMO of PolyU, impressed the judges with its highly innovative and user-friendly design for empowering electrical cars. It was selected as one of the China’s Successful Design Award winners.
“The awards honor entries with excellent design strategy, process and outcomes. They are expected to bring creative and meaningful contributions to the society and industry. BrailleWise has done a good job on all these,” Prof Michael Siu told us. “It is encouraging to receive one of the judges’ compliment that our design did not only overcome a difficult problem with long history, but also provided an inclusive practical solution.”
Conferred by the Shanghai Industrial Design Association and Shanghai Creative industry Center, the 2012 Successful Design Awards, one of the most privileged award presenters in China, granted prizes to 124 distinguished designs out of 454 entries. Other Top Selections are ROBAM-810 sterilizer, Philips Soundbar Home Cinema Speakers, interior design for Mong Kok Post Office, Haier WSGIG refrigerator, Nokia Lumia 800 and then some. Members of jury panel included David Carson, Kevin Mc Cullagh, Shiz Kobara, Ali Grehan, Robbert Van Nouhuys, Bryan.e.nesbitt, Sotamaa Yrjo, George M Beylerian and Cathy Huang from all over the world.
Earlier in March, BrailleWise was given the Runner-Up Award for the Industrial Design & Technical Concepts category of the Crystal Cabin Award, the only international award for excellence in aircraft interior innovation, held in Hamburg. SEVCS was the Bronze Award winner of the 2011/12 Spark Concept Award in New York.
BrailleWise assists the visually impaired to access aircraft lavatories easily and independently.
SEVCS is a smart charging station for electrical vehicles
Read more:
BrailleWise
SEVCS
The 2012 Successful Design Awards
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has recently received a donation of HK$249 million from The Hong Kong Jockey Club in support of the Innovation Tower, the future home of the University’s renowned School of Design (SD) and the Design Institute for Social Innovation (DISI).
The Innovation Tower is the creation of Ms Zaha Hadid, a world-renowned architect and the first female recipient of the coveted Pritzker Architecture prize. Located at the northeastern tip of the University campus, the Tower is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. Upon completion, the 14-storey Tower will provide some 15,000 square metres of net floor area and all the necessary equipment and facilities for design education and innovation, including auditorium, design museum, gallery and exhibition spaces, multi-functional classrooms and lecture theatres, design studios and workshop spaces. It will provide a unique environment for the future development of SD into one of the leading institutions of its kind in the world.
Besides supporting the learning, teaching and research activities of SD, the Tower will also house the DISI, which aims to become an international design, innovation and entrepreneurship hub where Hong Kong’s higher education institutions can collaborate with the business sector and community groups to bring innovative ideas with social relevance into commercial viability. The Institute will provide an open platform for students and young designers to learn and interact, and to carry out collaborative interdisciplinary design projects which can be applied to the real world.
To address the critical emerging social needs in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta Region, the DISI will concentrate on project development and knowledge transfer in four strategic themes – Service Design, Sustainable Environments, Holistic Health, and Adolescent and Family Development, which reflect the core competencies of SD. With all these core activities, it is expected that DISI will become a vibrant learning resource for the design community and a “third space” between the institutions of higher learning and the real world of business, industry and community.
Good news from the class of 2010!
SZE Ling Lee, Linny, BA(Hons) in Design (Environment & Interior)
Her final year project “Slow Frame- a 26km urban interface”, was awarded Bilbao International Design Prize in the category of “Public Spaces” and the Grand Award winner, in the B Awards Concept Design Festival held in Spain.
SUEN Ka Hei, Catherine, BA(Hons) in Design (Industrial & Product)
Her final year project “Pierrot” won the Kitchen Tools Competition organised by World Kitchen, LLC, USA, earlier in March.
CHAN Wan Ki, CHEN Siu Wa, SUEN Ka Hei, BA(Hons) in Design (Industrial & Product)
HO Tsz Lam, SHAM Ching Man, SZE Chun Lun, TANG Yi Ka and TSE Mei Si, BA (Hons) in Digital Media
Two of the 13 finalists of Design For Asia Student Award 2010 come from the class of 2010 too. One of them is the awards-winning “Living Pixels”, a project by Chan Wan Ki (Kay), Chen Siu Wa, Suen Ka Hei (Catherine), from BA(Hons) in Design (Industrial & Product). Another finalist is the animation “Alien Duncan” by students from BA (Hons) in Digital Media, HO Tsz Lam (Ah Lam), SHAM Ching Man (Mouse), SZE Chun Lun (Denis), TANG Yi Ka (Heidi) and TSE Mei Si (Mei Si).
Congratulations to all!
Slow Frame- a 26km urban interface, by SZE Ling Lee, Linny more>>
Pierrot, by SUEN Ka Hei, Catherine more>>
Living Pixels, by CHAN Wan Ki, CHEN Siu Wa, SUEN Ka Hei more>>
Alien Duncan by HO Tsz Lam, SHAM Ching Man, SZE Chun Lun, TANG Yi Ka and TSE Mei Si view>>
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