Meet Gen T

One of the partners behind architectural studio Lim + Lu explains why now is a great time to be an Asian designer

Elaine Lu, co-founder of Lim + Lu, discusses the perks of being an Asian designer

Growing up, Elaine Lu was always a rebel. Despite being surrounded by the creative hum of her family of artists, she initially chose to stay far away from the arts by studying science and mathematics.

However, beneath it all, Lu began to admit she had always been creative at heart. So, by the time she was headed to university, she had settled upon a career that was true to her upbringing, talents and both sides of her brain: architecture.

Now, Lu is one half of the duo behind design practice Lim + Lu, which she started with Vince Lim, now her husband, soon after they met while studying at university. “Lim + Lu was a passion project when we were working full-time on designing offices in New York. It [started as] our creative outlet,” Lu says. It is now one of the buzziest design firms in Hong Kong, known for its East-meets-west style, which mirrors Lim’s and Lu’s multicultural upbringings.

In the beginning, Vince and I made flexible furniture prototypes to show at one of the biggest design fairs in New York, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. We just wanted to do it for fun because we were interested in it and we didn’t like the idea that furniture in general is very static and stagnant so we wanted to change that. We created pieces that you can interact with and adapt to your own lifestyle, which gives the pieces more personality. The attention we received when we showed these pieces at the fair made us realise that maybe we could design full-time.

Exactly a year later, we moved to Hong Kong and designed our own home, which received a lot of press coverage and awards, and now the rest is history. It was amazing to be our own client because we could fully execute all our ideas. From there, it snowballed quickly and we took on more residential projects as well as commercial and hospitality projects.

Vince and I challenge each other’s ideas because that’s when we make major breakthroughs in our designs. In general, we are in sync because we have similar backgrounds and educations. I remember there was a dining table we were designing— Vince’s aesthetic is more angular and masculine and he wanted the table legs to be massive and rectangular, but I envisioned it with more curves. In the end, we decided to compromise with curved legs but with a heavy mass. It became the best of both worlds. It’s important to create thoughtful designs that stand the test of time while pushing boundaries.

Right now, on an international level, people are paying attention to Asian design—we want to ride this wave and push other Asian designers forward. The furniture market is still dominated by European brands, but Asian designers can showcase their culture and really bring that Asian flair into the market. My advice to young Asian designers is: always remember your roots.

The construction industry is responsible for about 40 per cent of global carbon emissions. That’s why we push the importance of sustainability. As designers, architects and builders, we can make a difference by being mindful of the materials we use. When we design, we minimise waste by doing things like creating multipurpose furniture pieces and repurposing materials.