We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Guoqiang Feng & Yan Chen about their original and creative Villa design work. Guoqiang Feng & Yan Chen is an award-winning architectural designer, that makes our world a better place with their original villa works.
Guoqiang Feng & Yan Chen ("GF&YC") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work One Jiyang Lake Villa. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
GF&YC : Our main design principle is "Do Not Overdo". The spatial design should skillfully reflect the regional culture and create a living space with a contemporary oriental atmosphere.
GF&YC : “Peace” is the focus of this work as we want to present a "Zen lifestyle" space.
GF&YC : Conduct further exploration based on the contemporary oriental atmosphere.
GF&YC : Half a year.
GF&YC : As most Chinese customers like the idea of copying Western designs, we help our customers find their own cultural identity. This project is commissioned design of our client, and we ideated the design inspiration.
GF&YC : The design is tailor-made for this project, and the right of use is limited to this particular client.
GF&YC : Probably because of my educational background, as I studied Chinese painting in my undergraduate university, and later obtained a master's degree in interior design from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy. Long-term research on traditional Chinese culture and the influence of Italian contemporary design have formed these types of work.
GF&YC : I.M. Pei and his design of the Suzhou Museum.
GF&YC : Customers who have requirements or would like some emphasis on cultural connotation. For example: "Glass Pyramid" of the Louvre, the Kennedy Library, the Museum of Islamic Art, etc.
GF&YC : This project attempts to avoid design elements that are superficial symbolizations, while pursuing deep expressions of Oriental culture.
GF&YC : The name of this project is the location of this project, which is set on the shore of a lake.
GF&YC : Hand-drawn sketch + computer-aided drawing/design.
GF&YC : We used Italian furniture and lamps extensively, but the atmosphere of the space offers an oriental implication.
GF&YC : I worked with design director Chen Yan, who I worked with for nearly 30 years, and other members of the design team to complete this design.
GF&YC : Technology makes this design more comfortable and smarter for the user of this design, such as the intelligent control systems.
GF&YC : We analyzed and studied the local culture before the design. This city was the origin of the Tang Dynasty monk Jian Zhen's successful travel to Japan. He promoted the improvement of Japanese Buddhism, medicine, architecture and sculpture. This is a significant change to the Japanese, both historically and culturally. We studied a lot of information regarding the subject, Buddhist Zen, and visited the local "Dongdusi” Temple.
GF&YC : This project has a part of additional construction, therefore making the exterior and interior of the additional construction harmonious and unified is a challenge. Another challenge was to add an elevator in the stairwell of the original building.
GF&YC : We are satisfied with this design, and thus we submitted it to this design competition.
GF&YC : We learned to "hide" the design as much as possible, and tried to not to expose too many "traces of design" in the future.
GF&YC : In this project, the garden design is an integral part of the interior design, and it serves as the landscape of the interior space.
