Interview | Mei Lin Lai on the Art of Subtle yet Powerful Designs

Hi! I'm Mei Lin Lai. When I was in my teens, I entered this industry, and it was tough during the early years when I had to balance work and studies. Gradually, I became independent and established my own company, and it was only then that I slowly began to achieve what I have now, including some domestic awards.

When I was studying, I often saw various design magazines and books. I was attracted to the works of some renowned designers such as Tadao Ando and Richard Meier, which inspired me to pursue this career path.

The company has a design department and an architecture department. Our services include design for large-scale chain hotels, residential design, collective housing planning, and commercial space design.

Design has become a part of our daily lives. Everything around us requires design, from what we eat, wear, and live in to how we travel.

Design that combines both functionality and aesthetics is ideal, and it is even better if it incorporates one's own philosophy, as this can elevate the design to another level.

Good design requires a subtle philosophy rather than a purely functional form that is visually imposed.

My design is inspired by the following elements:

1. Traditional Japanese art and crafts, such as ukiyo-e, which portray everyday life, people, and natural scenes using simple, expressive lines and colours.

2. Calligraphy, which conveys emotions and aesthetics through various styles and ink shade variations.

3. A profound appreciation for nature, reflecting the deep understanding and respect embedded in Japanese culture.

My approach is to take the ideas and concepts of clients and transform them into design elements, and then place these elements in space to create a series of clues, and constantly review and revise the design.

Design in various fields in Taiwan has been continuously evolving over the past decade. Industries that previously did not value design have invested a great deal of effort into it. There has been a shift in overall attitudes, with clients increasingly able to understand the ideas of designers and providing them with greater opportunities to express themselves. This is markedly different from the situation 20 years ago.

For me and my entire team, who have been working in design for a long time, this is a milestone worth commemorating and recognising. It lets us know that our direction is right and provides the impetus for us to move forward towards the next milestone.

We had many works that could be submitted to competitions, so it was indeed a difficult task to select which ones to submit. In the end, it was decided by my colleagues together, and we were very happy with the results of winning the award.

The biggest challenge is still the transformation of some concepts, the interaction with the surrounding environment, meeting all functional requirements, and creating it as a work of art.

I think I will still lead my team at my own pace to continue implementing all of our ideas. I believe good works will continue to emerge.

One aspect is that through the process of communicating with clients, we can learn different perspectives. Additionally, each project is like a story, and the process becomes the nourishment for design. Finally, it's the feedback from the clients after the project is completed.

Taiwan is a place that values functionality and practicality very much. Therefore, practicality often outweighs design, and clients often focus on practicality. Sometimes, this can be a very difficult thing to convince in terms of design, so we must take a comprehensive approach.

The future will enter the age of AI, and the role of designers will become more challenging. Initially, there will be many cheap and immature designs emerging. Then, more cheap but mature AI-designed works will appear. Designers will become more like integrators working behind the scenes.

The times are changing rapidly, and the future will be highly competitive. We should try to learn as much as possible, regardless of our position.

There are already many educational resources available on the internet. However, the most important thing is to maintain a desire for knowledge absorption and exploration of novel things in the environment. In the end, these will become nutrients for design.

I like cats and have adopted many stray cats. I also wish all my colleagues were cats. Hahaha!

Nature inspires me a lot! We often say that designing a single leaf is no easier than designing a tree trunk, and nature always satisfies its functions while maintaining its unique characteristics and appearance.

I don't think I'm successful yet. There are still many areas where I need to improve, but my colleagues say that I always maintain a certain standard and attitude towards things, which may be the key.

I am very happy to win this award. Thank you to all the members of the team for their hard work. I look forward to bringing better works to everyone!