Various Associates is an architecture and interior design studio dedicated to local and global design research projects. Studio was founded in 2017, has the international background of top designer team, the professional scope covers the architectural space, interior design, materials research, interaction design, etc., at the same time, as a cooperation platform for artists and designers, all clubs want to be able to combine creativity and technology, to explore the past, present and future, break through the creative boundaries.
Yinji: Who are your favorite architects/designers? How has he influenced your design or career?
Yang: I like Jean Nouvel and I like Richard Roger. I like Jean because of the infinite possibilities of his creative style and his strong ability to combine with business. Being able to drive and help the brand and meet customer needs is critical for business projects. My interest in Richard Roger came from many contacts in London, which deepened my understanding of his design style. Especially at his house, I spent most of the day studying and thinking about the materials, colors and structures in the space. (Laughter) Besides thinking about the perception and atmosphere of more people in the space outside the frame of "interior", the most direct influence on design so far is that fluorescent color has become my favorite color. (Fluorescent color is Richard's representative color and is used in many projects)
I admire our alumnus, the artist Anish Kapoor. His work is deceptively simple but powerful. The fusion of sculpture, space and architecture is a very natural, typical representation of post-minimalism. I also like his use of color, the tension of material expression and the way to simplify the complex. It also influenced my deeper thinking on the application of materials and colors in design projects.
Yinji: You studied at the university of the Arts London and the Royal College of Art London. How did this experience influence your design? Do you have any advice for students who are about to enter college to study design?
Yang: Our two schools are among the top art schools in the world, especially the Royal College of Art, which has been ranked number one in the world for many years. These experiences have influenced our design style to a certain extent. The UK is a their own countries both art and culture are very strong, in addition to its own historical elements, more is a love of life and design, can feel every corner of the design is life, all the year round in such an atmosphere under the influence, will not consciously put the details of the requirements of beauty in life, in particular, some aesthetic and the imagination of thinking space already thorough marrow. Perhaps because of this, in some projects before feedback, many people think that all clubs are foreigners to create a firm, and our own deep love of Chinese culture, inadvertently put both combined in a more subtle way, it is now all social style: west wind east gradually, things, the past, and the foreign serve China.
Yinji: What advice do you have for students who are going to college to study design?
Yang: And for those who are going to study design in college, I hope you can understand and understand what you love to do and what you want to do, because if you don't have any passion and imagination for design, the journey of a designer will be very hard. I hope the profession of designer is not just your job, but your career. Work and career are not the same, work can meet the need to make a living, and career is the direction that you are willing to struggle and work hard for your whole life.
Yinji: We know that Various Associates is also a platform for cooperation between artists and designers. Could you give us a brief introduction of the cooperation mode in this area? Who are the artists you are working with?
Yang: Maybe it has something to do with our years studying in London. We have always been very keen and keen on art. London is a city full of artistic atmosphere everywhere, and our college is the center of the most intense artistic atmosphere. Therefore, when creating, we all attach great importance to the infinite possibilities of combining art and design. We also provide design, crossover and craftwork advice to some artists all the time, and we hope that Various Associates will be a platform to gather artists and designers.
