Interview with ETHOSpace Pte Ltd

ETHOSpace Pte Ltd ("EPL") interviewed on Tuesday, 14 August.

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

EPL : My first physical encounter with art was at Antelope Canyon when I was much younger. The rock formations shaped by water over many years resonated deeply within me and I aspired to become a sculptor ever since. This was unfortunately not meant to be. This permanent curiosity towards nature’s artistry led me to study architecture at Cornell University; and, over time, I eventually gravitated towards interior design.

How did you become a designer?

EPL : Traveling around the globe while experiencing our planet’s cultural richness and how uniquely different the natural/built environment looked in every geographic region piqued and reinforced my interest in design. During my initial years as a young designer, I felt more could be done in the realm of interior design to invoke nature, culture and emotion. I eventually got together with a few like-minded people, including my sister, to incorporate our design firm, ethospace with the firm belief that we could make a difference in a small but meaningful way in relation to how beauty should feel and be seen.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

EPL : Our creed is to design interiors that we would personally enjoy experiencing; and, we have never wavered from this simple guiding philosophy. Generally, our inspiration is often derived from abstract sculpture and stunning visuals of nature. When it comes to a specific project, we would also find inspiration in understanding the cultural and architectural context of a site, both past and present, as the basis upon which we can create something different and unique for the present and future. To bring these ideals into fruition, we prefer harnessing any instrument that frees the imagination to empower us with the means to generate the unconventional, which at this time would be 3D printing.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

EPL : Within each design process, we find great satisfaction in becoming one with our clients, vendors and contractors, by virtue of our close collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and skills. This sense of fulfilment is magnified when all parties are aligned and moving toward the common objective of creating something fascinating and out of the ordinary. Likewise, it feels rather therapeutic when it comes down to working on the actual sketches and digital models with our design team.

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

EPL : Perhaps having worked as a part-time waiter before college helped me to better understand the critical basics of listening and delivering exactly what was ordered by our guests, at the right time and with a smile. This experience may have been instrumental in providing the foundation to develop an intuitive sense of listening with one’s eyes; and, seeing with one’s heart. In relation to my profession as a designer, this philosophy entails giving full attention to client and end-user requirements without predispositions, while invoking the emotional design aspects of a site’s full potential can help to significantly improve the final outcome of a design project.

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

EPL : Our hope is to continually evolve our design methodology. The quest for perfection is an endless process. As Salvador Dali said, “Have no fear of perfection – you will never reach it.” In that light, we are consistently refining and mastering our craft and processes, while nurturing our design team to continually adapt and morph with the times.

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

EPL : We encourage our own designers to perceive space not measured merely by scale and function, but to also go beyond these obvious requirements by placing an equal amount of emphasis, if not more, on the intangible and intuitive aspects of the end-user experience.

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

EPL : As designers, one of our unspoken fiduciary duties is to exercise the trust placed in us to select ecologically sustainable materials appropriate for an ecosystem that would ultimately be bequeathed to our future generations. While this is still a challenge to fully put into practice today, it ought to be the direction all of us designers should be heading towards.

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

EPL : It is arguably the case that design gives birth to a trend only when there is demand; and, where there is strong demand, the trend then reinforces the design. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics serve as the primary predictors of demand that inadvertently sets the stage for design trends. To stay ahead of the curve, we believe that extensive travel and seeing as many parts of the world have helped us to develop and refine our craft. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics also serve as predictors of design trends. Rather than identifying the trend itself, we strive to transcend the trend by studying demographic and lifestyle patterns of our end-users; and, formulate our design approach in response to those same behavioural patterns.

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

EPL : Successful design, in our view, would be a multi-faceted composition that is robust enough to pique curiosity, trigger emotion and opens the imagination by paving the way to new possibilities, while concurrently addressing the functional and commercial needs of a client and their end-users. In essence, functional and commercial purpose is what often stands in the way of a designer from becoming a pure artist. The more a designer transcends function, the more compelling the design.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

EPL : Generally, the quest for perfection is a process that comes with its own beginnings without end. Fortunately or unfortunately, a client’s schedule, which could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, prevents a designer from continually refining his work without end. To a greater degree, there comes a time when a design team has to stop the refining process because doing more would only serve to dissolve the primary message. At this point, the process of refinement is complete for the project at hand.

What is your biggest design work?

EPL : We are particularly fond of our work for the interiors for the Art Rotana Hotel in Bahrain. Within this project lies the culmination of our perennial endeavours to seamlessly weave together a site’s ancient origins with the building’s modern architecture; and, how these two seemingly opposing constituents should serve as the source of our design inspiration for the present age, in relation to how our interiors might stand in future. We also explored the various types of flora surrounding the site; and, extracted relevant shapes that appealed to our aesthetic sensibilities as the basis of influence for our design language in relation to the interiors.

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

EPL : A great deal of my time is spent traveling and immersing myself into new environments in the hopes of looking at life from a different perspective. What is of particular interest to me are the other-worldy coral reef cities in the Maldives, Australia and Indonesia, which are great sources of inspiration. But if I had to pick an actual city as we know it, then it would have to be New York City with its rich history of attracting so many creatives from every industry and culture from around the globe. The electricity, dynamism and ambition that flows from such an environment, carries within it the creative impetus to breathe life into ideas that no one thought possible.

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

EPL : While there is often a design team leader to point the way in the general direction the team should be heading towards, effective and long-lasting results still come down to group effort. Nurturing a team and appropriate delegation to the persons who are best suited for specific roles help our firm generate and execute good designs consistently. I do not believe for one moment that any of our projects that have won accolades would have been possible without my team’s fervent support.

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

EPL : While we would prefer letting our work speak for itself, the A’ Design Award does in fact help us as designers better understand ourselves and our true purpose with greater clarity. To us, this award draws focus onto the important questions on why we do what we do and our ultimate purpose in doing so. I am most grateful to all my design team members for their tireless dedication to our craft, my sister for her relentless support on the business aspects of our company and my wife who has steadfastly remained by my side in the face of difficulty.

ETHOSpace Pte Ltd Profile