Interview with Ling Chen

Ling Chen ("LC") interviewed on Tuesday, 14 August.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

LC : I am now an architect living in Beijing. In 1994, I went to Paris to study, and then began my internship in an architect's studio, which is mostly engaged in old building renovation design work. I went back to China and joined WSP at the end of 1999 and is now the partner and the principal designer of the company, engaged in residential, work space and consumer space design. We created an ideal city model called the Walkable City, which we recently applied to an old wharf renovation project with an area of tens of square kilometers.

How did you become a designer?

LC : My mother gave birth to me in Shanghai when she was on a business trip. Then I came back to Beijing with my grandmother to live with my parents when I was one and a half years old.Four people of three generations were packed in a 15-square-meter single dormitory allocated by my parents. My grandmother and I shared a single bed widened by wooden boards. The first private space belonged to me was a drawer in the upper right corner of the desk. Starting from carefully laying out my drawers over and over again, the dream of designing a comfortable home gradually emerges. My dream now is to design a beautiful city in the future.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

LC : It is a simple but important design skill to go to the project site and walk around. In Paris, you walk around looking at your house and your neighbor's house from different angles and figuring out the right material and location for each element on the facade. In China's new cities, you often have to endure the heat, boredom, obstacles and so on during walking, which will surely influence your progress, these experiences can let you think about how to make a real change in the city's design. It is important to do it from the perspective of pedestrians, not from the perspective of UAVs.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

LC : The happiest time is when my works are fully used. When you're here and in it, you really feel like you're working with people to create a work together. You are often one of the users, or you can try to be a user, not just as an architect.

What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?

LC : I kept running a marathon every year while studying in Paris, running well doesn’t mean running fast, it means doesn’t get tired after running 42 kilometers, the body has adapted to a certain rhythm and wants to continue running. Architectural design is a bit like long-distance running, a bit more persistent than others often gets you harvest which seems to be impossible.

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

LC : When studying in Wuhan, I experienced the life of having breakfast on street and just using a mat as the bed to sleep. What I see in Paris is a spectacular urban axis similar to that of Beijing. Reading these different cities formed my own views on design. Humans are preparing to migrate to the space, and what are the similarities and differences between a city in space and a city on Earth? Don't make the Earth Cities into those primary bases in space. This is the most important work now and in the future.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

LC : What designers need most is the spirit of criticism. Drawing machine does not need them.

You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?

LC : Always focus on the real users, standing on the users’ perspective, which is a bit like acting, but try not to go beyond it. Try to think farther than your customers, so things are easier to move forward.

What is your day to day look like?

LC : The projects in progress are reviewed every day. In order to do this, the key technique is to simplify the design so that it can be recited and the whole design can be made clear with a sketch. Not only ask do it yourself, but also everyone in the team.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

LC : Up to fashion, try to lead fashion and stick to your own thinking.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

LC : A good city is suitable for walking; a good building grows out of the street.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

LC : Find a "perfect grid" with 90% of the time and effort, and the design is over. The rest is to fill in the work, and life drama starts to be staged. These doesn’t need to be deliberately designed.

What is your biggest design work?

LC : "Walkable city" is our biggest design project, the biggest perfect grid. It is the ideal Earth City and space city model. The earth is also a part of space.

Who is your favourite designer?

LC : Le Corbusier was once my favorite, but I hate him the most right now: I was deeply obsessed by his design, but then I found out that the earth city was completely screwed up by those designs which are not unsuitable for walking. I would like to talk with Jane Jacobs about what the owners' committee should pay attention to.

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

LC : Paris was once my favorite, but after going to New York, I felt that Manhattan is good too. Whether it is a relic of the Middle Ages or the real feel of an old colony, it is a wonderful example of the city on Earth. Thinking about design led me to give up driving and riding a car in my offline life, I go back to the street so that I can feel my body more truly.

Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?

LC : The essence of the design is to arrange a mechanism of communication and cooperation, including Party A, Party B, Party C, Party D…..

What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?

LC : A good design should give users room for recreation. A good job is to give young people more opportunities.

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

LC : The process of participating in the awards is memory and learning experience. I look forward to winning the prize, to encouraging myself and the team.

Ling Chen Profile