Hsu-Hung Huang

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Hsu-Hung Huang ("HH") for their original perspective and innovative approach to design as well as their creative lifestyle, we are very pleased to share our interview with our distinguished readers.

DL: Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?

HH : I am an interior and product designer, with ten years of commercial and residential design experience and a Master of Arts (Merit) in Product & Furniture Design from Kingston University in London, England. I hope to re-build a bridge for dialogue between the world and Taiwan’s culture through contemporary designs.

DL: What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

HH : As a designer, I aim to build a design practice that provided practical solutions that integrated cultural context and warmth aesthetics. I feel that my mission is to provide customers with professional services including interior design, product design, aesthetic planning, and construction management. In addition, I always consider each client's needs by using logical approaches and keen analysis. As a result, the best elegant design and lifestyle will be discovered and offered to our clients. I take pleasure in establishing a combination of trendsetting yet enduring design, resulting in interiors that are both contemporary and timeless.

DL: Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

HH : I choose to become a designer. Performing certain projects in the design field, too many unpredicted and fantastic events always appeal to me. I do not like always doing invariable and boring work. That’s why I choose it.

DL: What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

HH : I prefer to perform culture-related projects. These projects allow me to do some research on unknown cultures or understand certain culture-felid deeply. The main reason is that I am constantly fascinated by historical stories and unique cultural contexts.

DL: What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

HH : I believe a good designer should be honest and self-disciplined. These characteristics are important virtues to be a design legend. The primely reason is that these factors influence designers to do appropriate things and make correct decisions. I firmly feel nothing comes close.

DL: What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?

HH : To my mind, involves always having a loving heart and a passion for designers’ work. That is to become a great designer’s the most important factor.

DL: What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?

HH : In my perspective, I tend to assess a design work utilizing created factors including aesthetics, design philosophy, practicality and symbolism. Particularly, aesthetics is my significant consideration for the first impression of design work. To be more precise, I believe that a good design should appeal to users by having a pleasing look firstly. After that, people would be interested in the object or space and try to understand what it is.

DL: What is the value of good design? Why should everyone invest in good design?

HH : There are aesthetics, design philosophy, practicality and symbolism.

DL: What would you design and who would you design for if you had the time?

HH : I hope to figure out how to value and transform cultural environment much longer than just a trend, meaning culture must survive in these concrete structures that cannot be removed, yet must be reformed in a way that is elegant and beautiful for our time.

DL: What is your secret recipe of success in design, what is your secret ingredient?

HH : Success, as I mentioned, involves having a loving heart and a passion for designers’ work. That is fantastic.

DL: Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?

HH : I believe that an excellent designer should treat and solve social and environmental issues around our world positively. They would improve these problems and attempt to change this society better rather than make a lot of fads. Take Francis Kéré, a Burkina Faso architect as a good example. He observes the environment and culture of Africa and utilizes limited local materials to build many outstanding architectures. Hence, He is honoured for his inventive works, which are frequently harmonious and sustainable in nature.

DL: What are your favorite designs by other designers, why do you like them?

HH : I quite appreciate the design works of Le Corbusier, a Swiss-French architect. In design contributions, Le Corbusier was well-known for his architectural theory and style which was modernism, or the international style. For instance, in Notre Dame du Haut, he combined classic aesthetics with a modern design including material and building construction techniques. According to Towards a New Architecture (1923), Le Corbusier believed that simple form was the most beautiful form and simple type was expressed by arranging pure order. Moreover, he did not support the complicated and additional decoration in the design. That is to say, utilizing the simple principle allows designers to develop elegant design works. This design philosophy appeals to me significantly.

DL: What is your greatest design, which aspects of that design makes you think it is great?

HH : Tao rocking chair is one of my favourite projects. This work was inspired by the boat-building methods of the Tao Indigenous community, previously of Orchid Island, a rugged and remote island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan. Respecting cultural heritage, a crucial part of Tao life centres upon the building of traditional fishing boats for the Tao people. Hence, addressing the issue of culture preservation, I aimed to communicate Taiwan’s unique culture to the world via this project and transfer the experience of rowing the Tao canoe into the joyfulness of swinging in a rocking chair.

DL: If you hadn’t become a designer, what would you have done?

HH : I would be an educator, I think .

DL: How do you define design, what is design for you?

HH : Generally, design is a blueprint or specification for the building of an item or system, the execution of an activity and the process. Also, it could be the output of that plan or sketch in the form of a prototype, product, or procedure.

DL: Who helped you to reach these heights, who was your biggest supporter?

HH : At the 3D studio of Kingston University, serval technicians and experts assisted me to deal with some specialized design issues like CNC cutting and wooden manufacturing techniques. They provided relevant skills and plenty of advice to me. These experiences and suggestions are quite useful to produce my furniture works.

DL: How do you think designers should present their work?

HH : Yeah, a successful designer should communicate and interact with people all around the world.

DL: What’s your next design project, what should we expect from you in future?

HH : Regarding my future programs, I hope to concentrate on culture-related issues and integrate the Taiwanese aesthetic with contemporary design skills such as 3D modelling and digital manufacturing. To explain, Furniture Design in Taiwan usually follows products that were made abroad, with very few changes are originality or feelings of anything local. However, I plan to bring more of Taiwan’s iconic imagery into my project. That is to say, I hope that the design reflects not just the aesthetics of the people of Taiwan but also our heritage and background.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

HH : In my opinion, I support that a designer should treat and solve social and environmental issues around our world positively. They would improve these problems and attempt to change this society better rather than make a lot of fads. In the future, I intend to continue informing people about Taiwan's unique culture through more design works. The main reason is that I aimed to focus on cultural issues and had a sense of mission for saving cultural heritage.

DL: What are you currently working on that you are especially excited about?

HH : Recently, I plan to extend the series of Tao rocking chairs and hoped to cooperate with some residents of the indigenous community and produce some design works in a small number of diversified ways. Through production cooperation, technology transfer, etc., aesthetic value and product quality can be improved. Also, expanding the consumer market of contemporary indigenous products and furniture is quite potential.

DL: What would you like to see changed in design industry in the coming years?

HH : I predict that an increasing number of global design concepts and techniques would be integrated with local cultures. To explain, with the introduction of globalization, mass produced furniture became popular; however, as people’s standard of living has improved, they seek more unique and better-quality products. They want the style and quality of the past and are more interested in local style designs. Some people have also become nostalgic about the times before the rapid growth of society. For instance, the historical city aesthetics in my hometown of Tainan includes architecture and furniture, instigating the creation of an atmosphere that that yearns for the past. However, we live in a contemporary society and obviously there are differences between lifestyles of the past and current behavior, which will affect the design and functionality of the product. Hence, from this background, I also get some design inspiration. That is to say, I hope to design furniture that not only has cost and aesthetic considerations, but will be created to fit into the urbanized, hot and humid, semi-tropical atmosphere in Taiwan.

DL: How long does it take you to finalize a design project?

HH : It depends on a different scales' project and budget. Sometimes, for small-scale projects such as furniture or product design, I would spend a few months developing my design concept, modelling and drawings. Otherwise, some large-scale or high budget programs like the design of certain luxury brands and high-quality artworks will take a long time when would take one or two years.

DL: When you have a new design project, where do you start?

HH : To begin, I usually plan to conduct a large number of studies on the project to better understand the context. I attempt to find and figure out the clients' potential problems while also expressing my viewpoints. Following that, distinctive and original design experiments that are more adventurous than past aesthetics would be created. I believe that the final result would be more alive and relevant to contemporary times.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

HH : That thinking through making is my favourite motto. I typically feel creative when I have a strong desire to develop or modify anything but don't have a certain conclusion to do it in the beginning. To be more precise, I would try to arrange and combine various methods or conduct a great number of experiments then inspiration appears seemingly out of nowhere.

DL: Do you think design sets the trends or trends set the designs?

HH : Honestly, I do not really follow the latest design trends. I do not support certain consumers who emulate global trends and fads with no thought to how it matches their lives. I feel a good designer should lead the trends via observation and experiment.

DL: What kind of design software and equipment do you use in your work?

HH : The main digital tools are CAD and CNC. Also, I utilized traditional boat-building methods and tools like clamps, axes, saws and mallets to perform my furniture design.

DL: What is the role of the color, materials and ambient in design?

HH : In my furniture works, I prefer to use woods such as oak, walnut, or cherry. These pieces of wood can be painted or stained and utilized as a centrepiece or framework. The surface and texture of wood are also quite appealing and elegant. Thus, I am willing to make a good furniture design by utilizing these materials.

DL: What do you wish people to ask about your design?

HH : How did you figure out this creative? At the same time, I would be proud of my work. Also, I firmly believe the only way is that a good designer should be diligent and design with heart.

DL: When you see a new great design or product what comes into your mind?

HH : From my experience, I would try to understand the background of the design and do some research on the works. From these methods, some inspiration would also come to my mind.

DL: Which books you read had the most effect on your design?

HH : Genius Loci：Towards A Phenomenology of Architecture

DL: What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?

HH : I quite like the brand of an umbrella named senz °. In 2005 a special umbrella was designed by a designer, Gerwin Hoogendoorn who majored in industrial design engineering. The slogan of the advertisement is that enjoy the weather. It encourages people to perform outdoor activities and to enjoy the natural environment by using its products. The umbrella's shape is asymmetric and has an excellent aerodynamic design. It can not only resist the strong winds of 100km per hour but also anti-ultraviolet coating is added to the umbrella’s surface to achieve the best sunscreen. Because of these unique features, senz ° is a very successful outdoor activity brand.

DL: When you were a little child, was it obvious that you would become a great designer?

HH : Not really. In my childhood, there were too many dreams which I hoped to do. However, finally I choose to become a designer. Performing special design programs, a lot of unpredicted and fantastic events always appeal to me.