Designed for comfort
Inspired by positive psychology, an exhibition curator has invited designers to consider how their creative endeavors intersect with the topic of human happiness. reports.
It may be argued that while design exists primarily to address the functional dilemma, the icing on the cake is that it often inspires. Founder of Milk Design Lee Chi-wing’s concept for Delightful Design is to question what makes people happy, and how good design can amplify those feelings. After decades as an industrial designer, with products ranging from inflight tableware for Cathay Pacific to bags for Ro, Lee has tapped into his expertise to curate Delightful Design. Held at Design Spectrum, Hong Kong Design Centre’s public-facing platform, the show is sponsored by the Create Hong Kong initiative. Organized into four categories — Sense, Mind, Ideology and Social — Delightful Design showcases more than 30 projects from home and abroad. Some installations were designed specifically for the exhibition, such as The Brotherhood of Sweet by Hong Kongbased 8+26 Studio.
“I asked them to come up with something to fit the category of Sense,” says Lee. “They said that they like to eat sweet things.” The result is a trio of mechanical, mini sculptures. Anthropomorphic figurines, resembling an éclair, a doughnut and panna cotta, dance at the press of a button, drawing smiles from viewers.
Milk Design’s contribution to the show, Nature Therapy — Hear, says Lee, “is a sound installation that allows users to experience nature — the sound of birds chirping and feeding — as a piece of sculpture.” Made from wood, with a mechanical component that tilts the structure when birds or other animals land on it, this outdoor piece is a supersized toy that also draws attention to the healing effects of immersion in the sights and sounds of nature.
Also on view are images of Tunnel of Light, an installation in Japan’s Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel, designed by Beijing-based Ma Yansong of MAD Architects. The abandoned tunnel has been transformed into a frame for panoramic views of the gorge plus a series of enigmatic
spaces where visitors become part of the installation.
In Ideology, local zero-waste retailer Slowood and neighborhood recycling center Green@Community are showcased alongside international enterprises including the Ocean Cleanup and Love Has No Labels.
Based in the Netherlands, the Ocean Cleanup aspires to rid the world’s oceans of plastic using trawlers to scoop up the waste like it’s done in commercial fishing. Based in the US, Love Has No Labels is a public-engagement project that aims to promote diversity and inclusion across perceived gender, race, sexual orientation and age boundaries.
Hong Kong-based Beyond Vision International’s founder and CEO Rico Chan is passionate about enabling the visually impaired to fully experience fine art. In the exhibition’s Social segment, he introduces Feeling the Colors, a collection of artistic experiences produced with the company’s tactile-audio interactive system (TAIS).
Iconic works by Piet Mondrian, Keith Haring and Henri Matisse are recreated with textured surfaces so that the different colors can be felt. Meanwhile tactile maps allow people to experience Hong Kong landmarks through varying surfaces and soundscapes.
“As much as color brightens up our city, diversity enriches our community,” Chan notes. “We believe that the visually impaired can see — just in a different way than the sighted. That is the foundation for our development of TAIS.”
Meanwhile, in a salon designed for public workshops, Hong Kong paper artist Soilworm Lai of the creative duo Stickyline introduces the interactive sculpture
In the Wild. “We want everyone involved in creating a garden for all,” Lai states as he encourages participants to add a folded paper flower to the mobile with the colorful materials available.
Lee, the curator, has no definitive response to the question: What is happiness? He remains optimistic, however, that each of us can find our own unique answer: “I hope that
Delightful Design lets visitors discover the thing that brings them joy.”