2023-11-17 11:00:00
New entry in the team of designers of B&B Italia, Gabriel Tan already has the IDEA Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America, the Japan Good Design Award, the President’s Design Award to his credit.
You live between Singapore and Porto, two cities and two different dimensions, in terms of culture and approach to life. How do you reconcile these two worlds?
Singapore is a very young country compared to Portugal, and moving from the “new world” to the “old world” I was able to find inspiration at every corner. In terms of natural landscape, historic architecture and traditional craftsmanship, Singapore had lost much in its quest for modernization and economic growth after World War II. Today, Singapore is a beautiful and modern city/country that many are envious of, but I needed to start a new chapter. I only discovered Portugal in 2014, at the age of 32, and I stayed amazed by the furniture production and craft culture, as well as the wonderful landscapes and climate. I finally decided to move to Porto in 2020 to set up a European office for my practice. Porto has historically been a working class city and the people here are humble and hardworking, but the pace of life and the dynamics between people were different from what I’m used to. At first I inevitably brought my Singaporean work ethic with me to Porto, then I learned to work within certain limits and make time for other important moments in life: for family, my children, neighbors and new friends. I feel very comfortable in Porto and I feel like I have come into contact with new parts of myself. I also think this allowed me to feel more creatively free…
The Quiet Lines collection designed by Gabriel Tan for B&B Italia photographed at Villa Arconati by Tommaso Sartori
With your Studio AntiMatter you design interiors for private residences and hotels… If you had to define the soul, the formal and emotional language of the interiors you designed, how would you define it?
Most of the interior projects we have completed to date are in Singapore, and as Singapore is a multicultural metropolis, we find ourselves mixing different cultural influences, materials and styles in most of our projects. We try to find balance and harmony in eclecticism. We start each project from scratch so much so that many say that each project looks very different from the others: we don’t recycle ideas and we don’t have a fixed style, inspiration comes from the conversations we have, observations and the potential of the space itself. I studied Industrial Design, but the design course at the National University of Singapore was born from the architecture department, so I had many professors who were architects and this helped me to consider a spatial point of view, to bridge the two fields of interiors and object/furniture design.
World Sleep Day, technology enters the bedroom by Valentina Ferlazzo 18 March 2022
In many interviews you have said that you are very interested in craftsmanship, manual knowledge… how do you intend to preserve it in your work as an industrial designer?
I am currently in Saga, Japan, where I am organizing a design workshop for Ariake, the Japanese wooden furniture brand of which I am the creative director. Six international designers are here in the factory to work together with the Ariake artisans and prototype the new collection: They have five days. I do it because I believe that the best products are the result of the chemistry between designers and the people who make them. For Origin Made, the Porto-based artisan brand I founded with my wife, we train Portuguese artisans to receive the same consideration as designers. I do my best to leave room for craftsmanship in my industrial design work as I believe the human touch is what makes a product hot.
characters Francesco Rota. I learned to draw by making prototypes in the workshop by Manuela Mimosa Ravasio 02 November 2023
What importance does design have in your life? Which teachers gave you this passion?
I only discovered design when I was in the Singapore Navy, aged 19. Like most Singaporean kids growing up in the 80s and 90s, I didn’t know about design. I was about to become a naval officer in 2001 when, one weekend, I went to the public library and came across the art and design section. Out of curiosity I borrowed a couple of books and from that moment I was fascinated by them. I didn’t know such a profession existed and I desperately wanted to get into it. I left the Navy and enrolled in the Industrial Design course at the National University of Singapore. During the first year I had a professor, Christian Boucharenc, who really believed in my work. He shared many of his experiences, his studies in Finland with great Finnish designers and how he worked in Japan with Toshiyuki Kita. The long conversations I had with him after class, about furniture design and the history of design, made me dream of working for large historic companies. During my second year of university I wrote to Pierre Keller from ECAL Switzerland asking if I could participate in a student exchange. He said yes. I had a shocking experience in Lausanne and that year I also went to Milan Design Week for the first time. My teacher was Barber Osgerby and I remember him telling me about the importance of being confident in my sketches, of drawing them much bigger and bolder… that was inspiring.
The complete Quiet Lines collection that Gabriel Tan designed for B&B Italia
For the collection you designed for B&B Italia you focused on the sleeping area, designing elements that invite you to experience the bedroom beyond the simple function of “sleeping”. What is the intention?
I met B&B Italia for the first time in 2019 and in 2020 I received a verbal brief to think about a collection of small bedroom furniture. I spent a year thinking and working on this topic and presented my proposal to them in 2021 which they followed up on many prototyping cycles to improve details. The intention of the collection is to create metaphors of rest through rituals, which then push our minds to relax. The padded leather surfaces create a dampening effect and a muffled sound, elements that should suggest to our mind to “go to bed”. The use of glass over the skin instead guarantees transparency and durability, and allows you to place a cup of hot tea on the glass without worrying: it is important to have peace of mind in the bedroom for a good rest.
Michele Bönan, the interior designer capable of creating a bridge between tradition and modernity by Manuela Mimosa Ravasio 04 August 2023 It also means that after having focused for years on the living room, the “public” area of the house, perhaps the moment for intimacy has arrived ?
Decidedly. I have discovered through my reading and observation of my own life that the bedroom and living room have somehow merged during the pandemic years. People all over the world find themselves working, watching TV and eating in the bedroom, which is why it is important to have furniture that can unconsciously invite you to rest.
Monica Armani. From the Dolomites another point of view Maria Carlotta Mattedi 06 July 2023 The design of Quiet Lines is made in the name of circularity. How important is the topic of sustainability for you, in a concrete and real way?
While I was working on the details of the collection together with the R&D center of B&B Italia, we had to decide how the product would be built and assembled. We decided not to weld everything but to use bolts so that every part of the product can be disassembled for repair, which extends the life of the product. The leather covering is also removable and can be easily replaced if necessary. In the end, we have decided not to use chrome finishes due to its environmental impact. The design profession has a great responsibility towards the environment since what we design and produce will be used by many people for years or even decades. This means that during the development phase I have to push for more sustainable production techniques and select materials and finishes that have a lower environmental impact. This has become even more important to me since I became a father, because I want my children and their children to inherit a comfortable and livable world, to have the same beautiful experiences I have had with nature and this planet.
ask the architect Renovate the bedroom with a touch of glamor 18 February 2023
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