In Style with Arts and Technology

Living and working in a digitally submersive environment similar to the world presented in Minority Report is no longer fictional.  Modern interior designers enrich our life by incorporating avant-garde technology and innovative products into the residential and commercial spaces, balancing functional and aesthetic needs.

James Law, Chairman and CEO and Chief Cybertect of James Law Cybertecture, an award winning multi-disciplinary design company founded in 2001 with designers of futuristic architecture, interiors and products, talks about the latest trends in modern interior design.

“Various directions are seen in today’s interior design.  Sometimes a more natural approach using natural materials is taken to create a cozy environment.  Yet some people focus on arts, decorating their homes with art collections to create a cultural feeling.  New technology and home automation are also highlights.  Altogether it evolves into an interesting moment in interior design where space, arts and technology blend in to create comfortable interior spaces.”

The firm’s innovative AMC Pacific Place project fuses technology with art.  “Architects in the 21st Century focus a lot more on the importance of integrating sophisticated lifestyle-touches into their design.  We aim at creating an environment that is able to deliver end-users a technologically astute space.”

Law points out that more and more new technologies have been integrated into our spaces.  “This is obviously a direction in design.  We are now able to control many objects in space via the internet through wireless systems.  This new trend creates room for unlimited possibilities – how we can manage our daily life and space which are connected via the internet, this is termed as the Internet of things.” 

He believes that the current architecture which traditionally concentrates on conventional space will soon be concurrently wired up with technology.  “The new applications and new possibilities for using the space will be increased through intelligent and creative applications. I called this Cybertecture,” he explains this revolutionary concept.

Innovative materials for floors, walls, furniture and lighting are available to match the advancement in technology.   “Everything from traditional materials to the latest, space-aged materials makes room for these components to interact differently with each other and perform differently in various interior design projects.”  Law takes the example of lighting, which now fully employs LED technology.  Lights can be controlled via computer offering unlimited choices of colours and combinations of patterns. 

In one of the architect’s residential project, video wall and curve ceilings are used, beautifully revealing the functional, technological and aesthetic aspects of the interior environment.

The impact of the materials used on our environment has become the consideration for many interior designers.  “Environmentally friendly design is a new movement.  The material and its influence on the earth are taken into account.  The application of recyclable, natural materials is becoming more and more common,” Law mentions that there is a trend going towards resources saving, such as electricity and water.

“We can achieve this goal by a combination of active and passive design. Active design may turn the space to be more environmentally friendly by using technology such as home automation; whereas passive design takes on natural ventilation and sunlight to reduce the amount of energy needed for a space.”

Modern architecture and interior design are a lot more user-friendly.  Interior designers are attentive to the groups with special needs such as the seniors or the physically-challenged.  “We have to create user-friendly spaces for the elderly or the disabled; and our priority goes to safety and choosing the appropriate materials for the users in mind is very important.  The MTR train floor has been carefully designed for people with special needs, users do not slip and wheelchairs can have easy access to the compartments,” he says.