SPARK 设计之道 | 融合文化、创新思维与科技的中国市场攻略

Later in this year of the rat SPARK will have been working in Asia for 20 years

. 

To commemorate this amazing milestone we will over the next 12 months publish a number of our projects that have been instrumental in formulating what we do, how we did it and the values generated that have become 

SPARK’s DNA

.

I guess this 12 month progression is an easy way to understand us and the ideas generated via the SPARK design process we use to avoid the “this is how we do it” pit-fall of repetition.

It used to be 

de rigeur  

to call this process “

thinking outside the box

” we now call it the “

SPARK factor

”. It revolves around an understanding of our clients and experience in the typologies we are best known for designing. A process of questioning: questioning the problem, questioning assumptions, and questioning the social and environmental implications of the project.

We try to reframe everything in a 

human-centric

 way, developing ideas and adopting practical approaches through our idea testing. 

As a process it is a wonderful catalyst for change, discovery and evolution resulting hopefully in a clear communicable 

SPARK narrative

.

Why does the China market respond well to SPARK's design?

“A good life should be full of expectation, surprise and gratitude.”  ---- Plato

SPARK partner Min  Wei. September 2020

“

Contemporary design in China is at an intriguing stage. The country has traditionally been known for, at one extreme, its refined historic architecture and the other shape driven mega projects. Now contemporary design and architecture focused on place and people is becoming more prevalent. China’s culture is rich with influences and referenced in many different ways in SPARK’s work.

Throughout SPARK’s 20 years of working across Asia and 15 years in China, the market has responded well to SPARK’s work, perhaps the reasons could be explained as follows:

01.

SPARK is good at fusing international contemporary style with Chinese local culture

We care about the spirit of the place and carefully consider how to design a building, that not only displays contemporary characteristics, but also tells a story of the local history and culture. By combining the heritage of the site with a notion of future inspiration, a creative SPARK can be created.

SPARK’s urban regeneration projects display these characteristics, an example is our recently completed master plan for the historic Guangzhou International Shipyard. The design features elements like “the future dock” and the “culture ships” combined with a riverfront heritage park evokes the memory of industrial heritage. The futuristic image of project layered with a sense of history affords a new and meaningful contemporary character for the development.

▲ SPARK's Guangzhou shipyard master plan: aerial view

 ©SPARK

▲ SPARK's Guangzhou shipyard master plan: culture ships

 ©SPARK

▲ SPARK's Guangzhou shipyard master plan: 

riverfront heritage landscape

 ©SPARK

02

.

SPARK is good at “cross-border” thinking that brings a unique creative element to projects

We are a culturally diverse studio and enjoy the spark of our “cross border” conversations. We make a point of immersing our staff in culture in all its forms from art, music, and film to science and technology ensuring our projects are redolent of our cultural diversity and our SPARK style.

SPARK’s Starhill Gallery is perhaps the most well-known “high end” retail mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. SPARK’s design transformed the image and street presence of the existing building into an internationally recognisable icon. The façade renovation was inspired by the tailoring of opera costumes of the French designer Christian Lacroix, that display a great sense of theatricality and sculptural form.

▲ 

SPARK's Starhill Gallary: sculptural facade

©SPARK

▲ 

French designer Christian Lacroix

©Google

▲ 

SPARK's Starhill Gallary: sketch by Stephen Pimbley

©SPARK

SPARK’s Fai Fah Prachautis is an interior regeneration project. A yellow circulation path runs vertically through the building, creating a sense of a colour and drama, inspired by the

yellow brick road

  from the 1930s movie

The Wizard of Oz

.

▲ 

SPARK's Fai Fah: workshop

©SPARK

▲ 

SPARK's Fai Fah:

axonometric diagram

©SPARK

▲ 

SPARK's Fai Fah: staircase

©SPARK

▲

SPARK's Fai Fah: art studio 

©SPARK

03

. 

SPARK embraces new technology and when combined with our 20 years of local market and technical experience we can deliver appropriate design solutions

We consistently search for new design and construction technology and materials, and apply the research to each project, part of the process in helping our clients meet their ambition.

An appropriate example is SPARK’s transformation of Singapore's Clarke Quay. The old river frontage and shophouse lined streets were ingeniously reimagined into a pleasant activated al fresco street. Elegant street covering canopies provide environmentally friendly shading and cooling. The lightweight canopies are covered using the self-cleaning ETFE foil (Ethyl Tetra Fluro Ethylene), the first application of the material in SE Asia.

▲ 

SPARK's Clarke Quay: ETFE canopy

©SPARK

▲ 

SPARK's Clarke Quay: 

ETFE canopy and fan

©SPARK

Our research covering passive cooling in classical architecture such as the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain proved that we could manipulate air flow to cool Clarke Quay’s spaces naturally. We employed the technique at Clarke Quay to accelerate air flow through the streets “venturi effect” to naturally cool the environment.

▲ 

SPARK's Clarke Quay: diagram 

©SPARK

04

.

We are good at creating exciting and pleasant experiences

We believe architecture needs to engage with the environment to create interesting and pleasant environments for people. We like to reinvent rules and traditions, creating new frameworks to build engaging atmospheres and pleasant socially sustainable experiences.

SPARK’s Shanghai International Cruise Terminal is a headquarters office development located north of the historical ‘Bund’ centre of Shanghai. The focal point of the development is a structure named the “Shanghai Chandelier” a glass-clad portal. The Chandelier provides the development with a focal point unique identity afforded by the Chandelier’s futuristic suspended structures.

▲ 

SPARK's Shanghai International Cruise Terminal: night view

©SPARK

▲ 

SPARK's Shanghai International Cruise Terminal: 

Shanghai chandelier

©SPARK

SPARK has recently transformed an old Singaporean mall into a youth focused retail and education destination named GR.iD. The fun graphics and bespoke interior installations provide a new social experience for the young generation, including unique social washroom, event and gathering spaces.

▲ 

SPARK's GR.iD: social washroom

©SPARK

▲ 

SPARK's GR.iD:

event space 

©SPARK

SPARK reshapes people’s everyday experience by delivering special moments, designing something magical, something that’s not ordinary, something that brings a spark of joy and fun into people’s lives

.

”

 END 

往期阅读：

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SPARK 20周年品牌故事7月特刊：甜蜜的青春鸟

SPARK 20周年品牌故事6月特刊：批判的认知，是一门艺术

SPARK 20周年品牌故事5月特刊：

媒介即是讯息

SPARK 20周年品牌故事4月特刊：地球日50周年，SPARK谈ESG-企业对环境永续的社会责任

SPARK 20周年品牌故事3月特刊：织造复合的城市语境

SPARK 20周年品牌故事2月特刊： 幸福和安康

SPARK 20周年品牌故事1月特刊：艺术是通往建筑的最佳途径

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