Design for Now and The Next Century Lane Crawford collaborates with LAAB to explore smart designs and cities of the future
“Technology shapes our culture and lifestyle today. Ideas such as home-offices and shared living are the results of internet connectivity,” says Otto Ng, the co-founder and Design Director of LAAB, a multi-disciplinary architectural firm.
The ‘laboratory for art and architecture’ went viral earlier this year when LAAB created the ultimate smart home for Michelle Tennat and Andy Knight’s 309 square foot micro-flat in Central, Hong Kong. Hidden storage, sliding panels and magic buttons revealed a mini gym, guest bed, and a generous kitchen. Providing Hong Kongers with a glimpse into the future, Lane Crawford collaborated with the firm to design how a home might look like in the future.
“Before we start designing, we often think beyond conventions and advise our clients to envision the next lifestyle they look for,” explains Ng. In this case, LAAB incorporates ideas of smart, compact living with the future of home offices, shared spaces and wellbeing. The resulting project features a closet under a loft bed that doubles as a reading room, a slide to lie on or play with that also doubles as an alternative seating area, a modular series of cubes that can be re-arranged for flexibility, and a centralised green area that can be used as a meditation corner and also houses a bathroom.
“We design for humanity. We hope to develop designs that are intelligent, sustainable and well crafted, and more importantly engages the public.”
For Ng, the idea of ‘smart living’ is something that he has been exploring since his days at MIT where he focused the majority of his research on building smart cities and smart architecture. “I have been fascinated with the theory of ‘form follows time’ meaning design can transform and adapt to different events happening in the same space at different times.”
Another of Ng’s projects, WALLBOTS, featured robotic wall panels that understands the need and mood of inhabitants by collecting real-time data through sensors and social media, and automatically configured themselves to transform the space.
According to Ng, architecture in Hong Kong is generally conservative compared to that of Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo but he is seeing a rising public demand for creativity that he attributes to the emerging interest in design and innovation in the city.
His dream project? “I would love to build a cable car system travelling through the skyscrapers in Central. It would be a breathtaking experience and truly unique for Hong Kong’s urban fabric. I also dream of transforming some congested main streets into pedestrian walkways, redesigning public spaces.”