Compact Living

COMPACT LIVING –A DANISH DESIGN STUDENT’S VIEW ON THE COM-PACT HONG KONG HOME

COMPACT LIVING– A DANISH DESIGN STUDENT’S VIEW ON THE COMPACT HONG KONG HOME

Seven Danish interior design students from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts – The School of Design are in Hong Kong to present their ideas on what Danish interior design can offer in another cultural context. What is the essence of a Danish home? Can Danish hominess be exported? What can we learn from Hong Kong’s density?

Our booth at the exhibition gives an example of how our students - based on thorough design research - present new design solutions which aim to adapt Danish notions of “hominess” and functionality to the individual rooms of a home as well as the objects designed for them. Also what the challenges are of designing for a small compact home in a Hong Kong high-rise Tower.

Our project has progressed together with a group of design stu-dents from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University with the joint title: “Compact Living, a design exchange between DK and HK.” Through this the Danish students gained an awareness of the concept of a compact home being of particular significance in Hong Kong, where 7 million inhabitants need to adapt their living space in an area considered to be the world’s most densely populated.

During the project process these new friends met cross-borders via Skype and Facebook, but at the exhibition they will be sitting side by side, discussing each others projects and helping to further explore design solutions for compact living.

This folder presents the projects of the seven Danish students and in particular a Danish design view of a Hong Kong compact living space.

THE ROYAL DANISH ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS – THE SCHOOL OF DESIGN Situated on Copenhagen’s waterfront – with a view of the Queen’s castle - The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, The School of Design educate designers and craft artists, and for more than 135 years the school has played an important role in developing Dan-ish design and crafts with an international outlook.

We combine a strong tradition for creativity, design and quality craftsmanship with the postindustrial demand for flexible and research-based findings. In 2010 our five-year degree programme was accredited and recognized as a university-level educational institution, awarding bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

The school is founded on the Nordic design tradition, where functionality and aesthetics go hand in hand with a sense of busi-ness. Today it is a modern, business-oriented design school where groundbreaking partnerships, ambitious visions and new technolo-gies go hand in hand with creative artistic development and profes-sional innovation.

RENÉ ÅBO HERTZ

MULTIFUNCTIONAL DAY & NIGHT BED – DENMARK AND HONG KONG UNITED

I have had the task of trying to imple-ment a Danish multifunctional furniture design in a compact housing environment in Hong Kong. I feel that I have reached a functional solution that can unite Chinese and Danish furniture tradition in a new exciting way.

Project goals for the final designFunctional, user-friendly, sustainable,aesthetic and traditional.

Project descriptionThe idea is a modular furniture solution that is both user-friendly and functional. The aim has been that my design should be able to function both as a sofa, bed, chair, table and reading corner.

It is in the light of the above that I ended up with a final solution that has specifi-cally made sure that my design relates to compact housing in general, the needs and decor of it.

I have considered multifunctional solu-tions and kept my main focus on the overall impression of the room with the day & night bed in it. In addition, the final solution addresses a specific problem that is a vital issue right now and is very relevant for all small homes. I have also tried to enrich this piece of furniture with individual features, applications and loca-tion in the room.

VASO VUKUVIC

NOMADIC STOOL TRAVELS TO THE CITY OF HONG KONG

In a compact apartment the need of floor space is essential. The hangable nomadic stool gives every compact home the op-portunity to have more floor space.

Nomad living is known for its compact-ness and mobility – the very same prin-ciples as the nomadic stool. On the floor level the nomadic stool serves various functions, such as sitting, standing on it for reaching high as well as stackability, and it can be used in every room. The leather string and the light weight make

it possible to hang the nomadic stool on different objects in Hong Kong homes. When in need of more floor space, simply hang Nomadic on hooks, on doors or bookcases and utilize the available verti-cal wall space.

MATHILDE SALLING ODGAARD

MAKE NEIGHBOURS MEET– CREATING MORE IDENTITY AND A WEL-COMING ATMOSPHERE IN A HALL ROOM

The starting point of my project has been a hall room in at typical Hong Kong Pencil Tower. It has been my intention to open up this zone between the public and the private space transforming the front door area to a space with more atmos-phere - and to design it in a way that combines the hall room function from the inner part of the apartment with the more public exterior part.

My idea is to enlarge the hall with a sys-tem of functional boxes, boxes for storing or sitting furniture - when you take off your shoes you can have a nice small talk with your neighbour and get to know him

better! At the same time these boxes cre-ate a frame around your front door and you can personalize this area with your belongings and create a nice and welcom-ing atmosphere - filled with light shining through the frosted window glass from the apartments.

I believe my project will animate the residents to come out from their private backstage and enter the front scene shar-ing a bit of their personal life and identity with other people.

JOSEFINE HERLØW

DESIGN BACKGROUND – NORTHERN LIGHT IN FUNCTION

“…How it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonder-ful light…” – Hans Christian Andersen

The meeting between Denmark and Hong Kong has inspired my interpretation of the functional lighting pendant.

The idea behind the project is to create a modern multipurpose lighting design for “Compact Living” in Hong Kong. The es-sence of the concept is to create a special feeling or mood that enhances different activities in small Pencil Tower apart-ments.

The aesthetical expression in my design is a comment to The Danish lighting culture, which plays an important part in Danish design tradition. The know-how used in my lighting pendant is based on the light emitting diode (LED) technol-ogy. This new light source is a change from the traditional way we think of light, which has dominated the way of creating light for more than half a century.

”… The aim is to make homes and indi-viduals beautiful and make the evening restful…” – Poul Henningsen

BABARA HILDUBERG

DIVIDED SPACE – A POSSIBILITY TO CREATE A WORLD REFLECTING INNER NEEDS

In small spaces every square meter counts. In a world where space is scarce, the square meter has become a buzzword, which means that space is an essential factor in room design. It is therefore important to create a product that can live up to the crowded reality of Hong Kong public housing. In housing where space is limited it is therefore necessary to create a product that can provide mental freedom from the crowded way of living.

My design involves the ambiguity be-tween physical and psychological dimen-sions and I have therefore developed a furniture concept which in its physical

dimensions is adapted to the cramped surroundings. I’ve wanted to create men-tal peace and relaxation for each indi-vidual. It is for each resident to discover and interact with the design that invites to play and creative use. I want the user to create and reassemble the design after his or her own needs and wishes and to inter-act with the product. It was important for me to show the sensuous and emotional aspects of the design. The possibilities are many and the flexibility great. The product is highly space-saving which was a priority for me.

NICOLAI HANSEN

PERZONE

The need to keep private possessions to themselves is something that most people are familiar with.

In a city like Hong Kong, where many families live in small apartments, the space for personal belongings and privacy is limited. My storage unit therefore allows privacy and can be personalized by decorating it with personal pictures, poems, drawings, wallpaper, paint etc.The furniture is easy to take with you when moving away from home to another place. This means that the furniture will follow you throughout your life and eventually becomes a potential heirloom,

which over time will get patina, soul, poetry and contains a lot of history. The shelf can be a more legitimate way to cre-ate your own private space, where you can have your most private possessions for yourself, instead of a cash box with a lock or other object, which may indicate that you do not trust your family members.

There is also a space reserved for a laptop, since much of our private lives nowadays is located on a computer.

SHIVA COLEY

HARMONIA – FAMILY ’ROUND THE TABLE

Throughout the design process I have fo-cused on the classic Danish traditions of craftsmanship, design and architecture. I have also formed my personal impression of Hong Kong and compact living. This has resulted in a compact set of dining ta-ble and chairs to gather the family around what, in my opinion, is the very heart of a home. As an extra bonus the people living in the space have the choice of changing the function of their room.

My intention has been to create coher-ence in the room and bring about an aes-thetic environment with simple, continu-ous and soft lines. The result is a round dining table with intarsia veneer decora-tion and three complementary chairs. The table legs can be dismantled and assem-bled without the use of tools. When the table is not in use, the legs fit under the tabletop. This way the table as a whole

can be hung on the wall as a decorative element. The chairs can be stacked on the floor. My aim is also to maintain harmony between table and chairs: to enhance the “floating” look and embrace the symbol-ism of harmony and unity. The chair in itself is inviting and comfortable.

I have expressed myself using the sim-plicity of Danish design tradition, adding a supplementary function and minimiz-ing both material and weight. “Harmo-nia” is a complete and user-interactive set of furniture that will enhance the capacity and function of any living space.

The underlying theme is the very Danish concept of “hygge” - ”hominess” - which in essence is a feeling of harmony, comfort and cosiness.

COLOFON – AND THANK YOU

Lecturers: Jens Overbye, Marie Stender & Malene Lytken.

Text: Malene Lytken and the students.

Photography: Students.

Layout: Karen Skovgaard Vindum & Elias Stenalt Werner.

Print: The Printcenter at KADK.

Special Thanks to: Inge Bielefeldt for translating all texts.