Editor. Jongwoo Park  Text. Harry Jun  Materials. Hong Kong Design Center

There are cities that are considered one of the world’s top four financial hubs. There are two Western cities and two Eastern cities. It is New York in the United States, London in England, Tokyo in Japan, and Hong Kong in China. Although Hong Kong has global competitiveness as a financial hub, it is expanding its influence in the creative industry these days. Think of Art Basel Hong Kong, which was canceled due to COVID-19 this year, but attracted a lot of attention every year. If you pay attention to art, design will naturally follow. Hong Kong, already aware of the power of design, established the Hong Kong Design Center (HKDC) in 2001 and spent almost 20 years hosting world-class design celebrities and related forums to become the design hub of Asia.

But while design is global and universal, identity for the region is also important. HKDC, who did not overlook this, has been operating the “DFA Design for Asia Awards (DFAA)” since 2003. As a design award, the biggest feature of DFAA is respect for the aforementioned locality. To be exact, it’s “Asian”. This is because DFA intends to play a role in strengthening the trend and identity of Asian design by evaluating the actual launched and implemented design in Asia from an Asian perspective. Considering that Germany and the U.S. are the operators of the “iF Design Awards”, “Red Dot Design Awards” and “IDEA Design Awards” it is clear that why the DFA has emerged as a representative design award for Asia.

DFAA is composed of Category Award and Grand Award. Category Award is to be conferred by open submission with Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit Award from 4 design disciplines – Apparel and Accessory Design, Communication Design, Environmental Design, and Product & Industrial Design – across 23 design categories. Gold Award winners and other outstanding projects by nomination will be selected as the candidates of Grand Awards. Projects with most extraordinary contributions will be conferred with Grand Award, Grand Award for Culture, Grand Award for Sustainability, Grand Award for Technology and Grand Award with Special Mention.

Last year, more than 1,100 design projects were submitted from 24 economies, which was a 10% increase compares to 2018, with a total of 211 projects were on the list of award-winning works, reaffirming their thirst for Asian design-conscious views and awards.

In this article, I would also like to introduce various Asian architectural and space works and domestic award-winning works that won awards in the field of environmental design deeply related to brique Magazine. In the process of examining the winning works in the environmental design category, many areas similar to the current architectural trend in Korea have been found, and small-scale housing works have been actively listed in the award-winning works, which are believed to be noteworthy for Korean architects.

The deadline for applying for the “DFA Design for Asia Awards 2020”, which began on April 1, is July 17 (Friday). I recommend the challenge of Korean architects to this year’s DFAA, where Asian perspectives converge.

DFA Design For Asia Awards 2020

The Treasure Space of Asia discovered by the DFAA in 2019

① Mountain House in Mist (Grand Award)

Location. Mainland China
Design. Shulin Architectural Design
Programme. Library
Year Completed. 2018
Cost. 116,500 USD

“The Mountain House in Mist” was built in a mountainous village in the rural Wyui County near Jinhua City in central Zhejiang Province, China. Village houses are scattered around the terraced landscape in the midst of an ancient and dense forest.

Conceived as a cultural and social facility for the villagers, the library occupies a triangular plot in the heart of the village and is accessible by various cobblestone paths.

Nestled in traditional houses made of rammed earth, the new library also aims to retain or attract young people and revitalize the aging mountain community around it. The library is also experimentation with rural architecture.

The Mountain House leveraged architectural intervention to bring about social changes to a rural community. To this end, the team that lacked experience working in a mountainous region relied on their intuitive judgment and bold experiments to design a thoughtful civic structure.

② Tsingpu Retreats (Grand Award)

Location. Mainland China
Design. Beijing Tsingpu Retreat and Culture Co. Ltd
-Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
-Tsingpu Tulou Retreat: Trace Architecture Office
-Tsingpu Baisha Retreat: Tsutsumi & Associates
Programme. Retreat
Year Completed. 2017
Cost. 13,000,000 USD (Yangzhou) / 7,200,000 USD (Tulou) / 4,300,000 USD (Baisha)

Tsingpu is a leisure brand that combines hospitality and culture to offer authentic and human-centered vacation experiences throughout China. Most notably, besides leaders and investors in the hospitality industry, Tsingpu’s management team also consists of an artist, poet, scholar, curator, new media expert, and senior manager trained in anthropology. From architecture to amenities in the guest room, and from customized excursions to local handicraft workshops, Tsingpu guests are offered world-class designs and curated experiences. It has established itself as a trusted brand that offers some of the most original vacation ideas and curates genuine escapes that allow guests to get away from their daily grind and take their minds off the everyday. Tsingpu prides itself in promoting a lifestyle. As guests rediscover themselves as they take a break from the routine, they may bring home new-found interests or pursuits that continue to enrich their lives.

③ Little Shelter Hotel (Grand Award with Special Mention)

Location. Thailand
Design. Department of Architecture Co.
Programme. Hotel
Year Completed. 2018
Cost. N/A

Little Shelter represents the past, the present and possibly the future of Chiang Mai. The contemporary interpretation of Northern Thai vernacular architecture, Little Shelter, in a quiet corner of Chiang Mai, uses old and new and industrial materials with traditional wood shingle construction techniques.

Small units of wood shingles are laid out like fish scales to become a watertight architectural plane. On the façades, polycarbonate sheets are cut into shingles which reflect the surroundings, create delicate and dramatic silhouettes and light inside, glitter in sunlight and glow like a lantern at night.

The simple, asymmetrical building is on is a small plot facing the Ping river surrounded by large trees, but with a panoramic river view at sunset. The traditional local Boh‒Srang umbrella is used throughout the building in contemporary installations and motifs.

④ A U-shaped room (Gold Award)

Location. Mainland China
Design. Atelier tao+c
Programme. Private House
Year Completed. 2018
Cost. 35,000 USD

The U-shaped room was once a part of the ballroom of a house built in the 1930s, featuring a full-faceted bow window facing the back garden. The house suffered from years of neglect and fell into a dilapidated state and Atelier tao+c renovated and updated the 42 square-meter room as a self-contained living unit. The project was executed with a low budget and simple materials and provides a new model to revive often-neglected heritage buildings common in Shanghai.

⑤ No.7 Courtyard No.7 at The Drum Tower (Silver Award)

Location. Mainland China
Design. RSAA/ Büro Ziyu Zhuang
Programme. Multi-Functional Building
Year Completed. 2018
Cost. N/A

Architects employs various design methods to fit contemporary spatial layout into the traditional Chinese courtyard. A freestanding glass structure encloses the T-shaped courtyard of the original architecture to create one all-encompassing working space.

The bookcase at the north-eastern wing doubles as a staircase that allows visitors to access the rooftop level. The rooftop is transformed into an activity space where the working models of the building are installed. It opens up a novel way for visitors to experience traditional Chinese architecture.

⑥ Infinite Treehouse Communal Classroom (Silver Award)

Location. Hong Kong
Design. NIL Studio
Programme. Communal Classroom
Year Completed. 2018
Cost. 10,000 USD

Infinite Treehouse Communal Classroom is a hybrid of architecture and landscape design. It is a sustainable bamboo structure wrapping around three existing trees.

The architecture fully blends into the forest to create a new way of experiencing nature. The freestanding structure is built using low-tech binding methods same as that of bamboo scaffolding.

This not only makes the structure highly adaptable to any kind of natural landscape but minimizes construction cost, fitting the tight budget of the charity organization.

⑦ Hut and Roof house (Bronze Award)

Location. Japan
Design. y+M design office Co.
Programme. Private House
Year Completed. 2017
Cost. 220,000 USD

Taking advantage of the fact that the building site is some distance away from its surrounding neighbors, the architects devised a curtain-free plan to maximize ventilation and transparency. In the summer, convection current brings cool air in while the built-in floor heating keeps the indoor cozy in the winter.

The house is partially enclosed by an outer wall, shielding the bedroom and living rooms from the outside to ensure privacy. The space between the outer wall and the inner house forms an internal terrace, allowing indirect sunlight to enter through all year round.

⑧ PARK WELLSTATE HAMADAYAMA (Bronze Award)

Location. Japan
Design. NIKKEN HOUSING SYSTEM LTD
Programme. Senior Residence
Year Completed. 2019
Cost. N/A

Putting into practice the Japanese architectural ideology of integrating the garden into living spaces, the architect created a serene environment in this senior service apartment in central Tokyo.

C-shaped building opens to a lush multi-level courtyard in the center that is accessible from all angles. The greenery planted throughout the structure, combined with cutting-edge technology such as circadian lighting and floor heating, provides a safe and healthy environment for the elderly residents.

The Korean Winners in the DFAA 2019

① PLACE 1 (Silver Award)

Location. South Korea
Design. THE_SYSTEM LAB
Programme. Office, Commercial Facilities
Year Completed. 2019
Cost. N/A

With the tides of the current financial market turning towards increased use of internet banking, the number of customers that visit bank branches is gradually decreasing every year. The remodelling project integrated the branch offices and major subsidiaries into one building. The space is divided into clusters, each with its distinct identities. The clusters encircle the core, an open space for leisure that doubles as a buffer zone separating bank facilities from office spaces and other cultural facilities. All the elements were pre-fabricated and brought together to be assembled on the site. The modular design creates a mesmerising form on the exterior façade.

② Aesop Sounds Hannam Signature Store (Bronze Award)

Location. South Korea
Design. mlkk studio (Hong Kong)
Programme. Retail Store
Year Completed. 2018
Cost. N/A

Don’t be fooled by the street-level facade covered with cold-color grey brick, its interior space is warm and cozy. Conceived as a space to mitigate the psychological and physical discomfort brought by the extreme weather in Seoul, the reclaimed red brick stacked in organic forms contrasts the static coldness of the streets.

The choice of using different brick material creates a dialogue with the architecture and effortlessly blends the interior and the exterior.