Innovation Center Kitchen Lab by Ying Chi Huang

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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

YCH : To use simple and minimalist style to let the functional requirements guide the aesthetic.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

YCH : To create an integrated workplace that nurtures the very important tasks of the professionals that are creating the future of food.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

YCH : This project has been completed and is functioning.

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

YCH : We took almost 3 months to finish this design.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

YCH : We based the design on client requests for specific functional areas. This project was commissioned by the client.

DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

YCH : We work as a team and all the team members contributed to the success of this project.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

YCH : The client and the staff are the target customer.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

YCH : An Innovation Kitchen is rather unique and there are very few projects like it.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

YCH : The client chose the name

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

YCH : AutoCAD. Sketchup. 3D Max. Photoshop.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

YCH : Making the functional requirements part of the aesthetic

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

YCH : We collaborated with the client and the contractor because of the highly technical nature of the design.

DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?

YCH : Technology is crucial to this design

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

YCH : We were required to research kitchens and laboratories to understand fully the operation of an research kitchen

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

YCH : The balance of function and design.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

YCH : We are all very proud of this project. We wanted to share the results to hopefully inspire others taking on difficult projects. That’s why we wanted to join the competition.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

YCH : Although we are a highly skilled and experienced design team, we had to really work hard to understand the very technical nature of research kitchens.