THE URBAN DWELLERS’ FUTURE
Hong Kong architectural designer Gary Chang focuses on dynamic spatial flexibility in urban spaces, forms and materials. His concentration on micro apartment projects has earned him an important place on the architectural scene in the vanguard of growing global interest in compact homes. Most of his versatile projects push back traditional boundaries, and his EDGE Design Institute pursues innovative solutions and multidisciplinary designs in urban planning, architecture, interiors and exhibitions, as well as furniture and tableware.

Gary’s individual approach to Hong Kong’s exceptional urban density has turned heads all over the world. The Domestic Transformer is Gary’s own metamorphic home in Hong Kong, a 344-square-foot flat, one of 370 units in a 17-storey building in Sai Wan Ho, where he lived with his parents and three sisters in the sixties. In 2007, Gary renovated the apartment with custom-made furniture, railings, sliding panels and partitions, creating 24 different ways to use the same space to sleep and live, entertain and work.

Maximum spatial efficiency in living areas has become a universal goal, and Gary has influenced the multi-use of space in apartment design projects around the world. He wonders whether interior design can borrow fashion’s concept of layering, believing that the base could be of wear-resistant materials, and changes could be made just by adding other materials on top. These methodical and innovative space-saving strategies, inspired by his upbringing, are ushering urban dwellers around the world into the future.

Zone

Devise to High-density Living

Project name

A Domestic Transformer

Designer

Gary Chang

Year

2007

Origin of company

Hong Kong