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written by atea photo by Tam

 

Most designers are interesting, special tastes will be shown when we go into their offices. Ben Yeung's office is large and full of the gadgets he collected from all over the world, such as tobacco pipes, vinyl records, and the covers of Hong Kong City Magazine from 1976 to 2006, which was the most representative magazine of the cultural trend in Hong Kong and accompanied him among entire youth.

Nowadays, designers always use computer for drawings, but Ben still likes to draw by rulers, he prefers the artisan originality gadgets. Rulers with various shapes on his desk are bought around the world, his favorite is the golden set designed by English Industrial Designer Tom Dixon.

Most of Ben's painting collection are bright colors, full of sense of life and interesting. The biggest one in his office shows a boy and 6 dogs. We can only see the boy and 2 big dogs at first glance, then see 3 little doggies snuggle up to the boy. After a closer look, a nodding brown dog can be found in the mud. Ben likes such interesting things particularly.

He has travelled to many places, Barcelona in Spain is his most favorite. He has walked for half an hour in Anthony Gaudi's Casa in La Pedrera to observe the concave patio carefully. The walls of patio were covered by blue tiles which are in different blue that the darks are on top while the lights are at the bottom, making the whole walls form to be a gradually changing color. The tiles in light blue make the space bright enough in ground floor, meanwhile the tiles in dark blue on top can be illuminated by the sun, just formed a whole color harmony. The chimney and the vent are designed to be ghosts or warriors, people always feel being stared by the ghosts or warriors  wherever they stand. No matter where the visitors are from, they are all coming with a question: What was the designer thinking about when doing the Casa design?

Ben often encounters the architectures that fascinates him during his travels. However, it is not possible for a designer to go to the place which is similar to the project for reference. "Every time we go travel, we are not only looking at the surface, but also feeling its internal, just like to build a great library in mind after accumulation." Some feelings will come out suddenly, what you need to do is to think about how to combine with the feelings and projects, then change.

Ben remembers that once he travelled to Santorin, Greece with his wife, they walked further and further away from the bustling town center, then sat on the ground in a quiet place where can see the town center far away. The light in the town changed slowly as the sun went down. They had enjoyed the scenery and sat at leisure for more than two hours.

Ben believes that it's not wasting time for leisure sitting at anytime, if you keep an eye on it and feel it with your heart, you may likely use it sometime in the future.

Guangzhou K11 Art Mall, which will be opened in June this year, is the most special interior design project that Ben ever did. Mixed with modern sense and the unique Lingnan custom, people will be shocked by a huge banyan tree when they walk into the atrium in the mall. The grey granite bistro street of B1/F is inlaid with manhole cover which is a bit like Guangdong granite old street, but it is a representative art mall reaches the acme of fashion. If an architecture makes the viewers to spend time to experience and meditate, then it is given the life then can contend with time. Like Gaudi's architectures, even the time has been changed for a century, there is another kind of reading when people come in.

 

 

Ben Yeung


CEO and chief architect of ben yeung & associates ltd., specializes in hotel, retail and public architecture/interior design and management. Representative work includes CR Shimei Bay International Marina Club, Le Meridien Shimei Bay Beach Resort & Spa, Guangzhou K11 Art Mall, Crosswaters Ecolodge & SPA, etc.

 

Frequency of flights

2-3 flights average monthly, he flies to several cities within one day when he is very busy.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

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Favorite type of plane and cabin seat

He likes the Boeing 777 widebody aircraft. If he has a long flight, he will choose the best business class with before and after dislocation seat in same row. Flying in the air is a rare time not to be disturbed, so he usually works on the big desk in front of the seat.

 

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The most memorable travel destination

Barcelona, Spain. He likes the fashion and architecture there, which is deep influenced by Gaudi's Natural Romantic works. The architectures in Barcelona are all from the heart of the builder or the occupants, showing a form of self-expression.