Shown outside Asia for the first time at Vienna Design Week, Michael Young’s Works in China are products of his enthusiasm for industrial processes.
What inspired your Works in China series?
I started up the project five years ago. The aim was to design a range of unbranded products with Chinese factories. Since there was no branding, we could start afresh, creating processes and typologies my way, without any restraint. Now I’m helping all these companies build up their images and product ranges, so they can make the things I think are worth making.
You opened your studio in Hong Kong in 2006. Did you have a lot to learn about working in China?
I wouldn’t like to do it all over again, quite honestly – arriving in Asia with a suitcase is about as nerve-racking as it gets. But I’m fortunate in that I have built things up slowly, and now I’m working with wonderful people and companies who have joy, passion and honesty and who believe in me. It’s not like Europe, where we just hand over the design drawings and almost say goodbye. Here I have had to create a team for each step. My first project here was with a very old Chinese family that
used to run the place before Mao took over, and sometimes I was out of my depth. I’m not one to keep my mouth shut: I’ve learned to be fearless, which is not something I expected to be a part of my job. I’ve also had to become good in business, as a designer is hopeless without that. Design is the smallest part of it at times – the important part is to understand how to work with Chinese company structures and to get to grips with the many layers involved, because there can be a lot of politics. But you can only learn these things by being thrown in at the deep end.
How do these Chinese pieces fit in with your other work?
I don’t think they do fit. They are actually in contradiction to my other works, because with them I had total control all the way. These objects look how I wanted them to look. Neither of us is supposed to know this, but if you use a factory that designs products for Apple, and then take those skills outside the electronics framework to make a chair, you are really in a whole new world.
A new industrial world?
I’m drawn to the beauty of the machine. I’m not much into historical design at all. I love post-World War II products, designed at a time when engineers needed to make efficient products and to add aesthetics in a simple way. I love factories and processes. I’m not an artist. However, while I’m very much an industrial designer, I like the freedom that artists have. A fundamental issue for me is that when I was younger I didn’t think the world was really a place I wanted to live in.
Why did you take this show to Vienna first, rather than to another European fair?
This may be an important body of work for me, but starting it in a major city didn’t matter. I wanted to step into Europe slowly
and to have the process grow organically. Vienna wasn’t directly a sales mission for me, I would prefer to see it as a cultural
event for people who enjoy design. The opening answered so many questions for so many people working in Europe. I take for granted production processes that Europebased designers believe are rocket science. Vienna is a very useful event. I noticed that old companies are starting to work with young Austrian designers. I normally avoid design fairs, but I liked this one.
How did the Chinese reaction to your show vary from that of Vienna?
The reaction in Vienna was quite breathtaking. I met people from all walks of life, including students who got it straightaway and CEOs who wanted to buy it all. In China, design is taken for granted a little more, but it’s getting better.
Do you approach industrial design, furniture and interiors differently?
I approach them all the same way. They’re all the same to me. My interiors are full of the items I’ve created, so in that sense my interiors are quite industrial, which is how I want them. They’re made with materials of our times. I approach all things with an eye on the high-end mass market, but along the way I pause for the odd experiment, like the Carbon Coen or the birdhouse I made from folded paper.
Do you have a favourite piece in Works in China?
Well, Chair4A. It’s a breakthrough in China, a real piece of Chinese industrial magnificence – without wanting to sound too bold.
You’ve lived abroad for a long time now. What are the creative consequences?
It’s perfect. I don’t need cultural influences. I’m my own man, but the nearer you are to a good factory the easier it is to play. I get to do things now that I couldn’t do otherwise. Hong Kong is a hub for trading offices, and there’s a lot going on. I have never looked for a project during my time here. It’s all word of mouth, so one can get creative respect here, too. Living outside Europe is perfect. I’m a romantic adventurer. I love Europe, though – the hills, the food, the calm, the wine – but I’m pretty international. If I’m not in Hong Kong, I’m in Sydney. If I’m not there, I’ll be in Tokyo or Bali or Shanghai – I move and live.
Should we still consider you an English designer?
Yes. It’s in my DNA. I’m utterly English. I like Prince Charles, ropery, old telephones boxes – all that’s important to me. As a designer you need to be globally minded, but changing location would be a very poor excuse for losing touch with who you are.
What piece of work most represents who you are as a designer?
Right now, the Cityspeed bike, for its details, form, processes, finishes.
Summarize your design philosophy, please.
Do what you want to do; just make it worthwhile for all involved.
Which designer do you admire most?
Phillipe Starck has created and is still creating some unquestionably amazing things.
What inspires you?
The interaction between materials and machines. Otherwise, I do what I do and always have. I just like machines that make things, and I like personal comfort – a healthy mix! I’m not a market-driven concept creator, but I do help a lot of large brands.
Has the credit crunch affected your work?
Only in a positive way. Factories needed to keep the machines pumping, which helped with the production for my show. Your biggest remaining design ambition? To redesign the Jaguar E-Type series. |
