Brian Adams

Interview with Brian Adams

What is your design philosophy?

“My design philosophy is “Taste in all things”. In my view, design is all about aesthetics with a common sense view of function, and a true understanding of the nature of materials and processes to create.”

How did you get into designing? Any other background information that might interest readers such as origin, where did you work before this, where do you spend most of your time etc.

“From the Arts – I studied fine art in the Wimbledon College of Art – in those days, the National Diploma of Design was the degree course – equivalent to a B A or M A in today’s world.

I then moved into furniture display, furniture design and interior design. It seems to be an unconscious, unforced movement, leading from one thing to another.

Looking back, the first design decision I ever made was choosing curtains for my bedroom at the age of 10 – the funny thing is that they were David Whitehead fabrics. If I still had my bedroom today, they would probably be snapped up by a design museum.

The first design event that I noticed was the Festival of Design in Britain – the dome of discovery and the Skylon and all that sort of stuff.

I was also drawing and benefited from a scheme where young talents were identified by the Surrey County Council. We were put in college at a much earlier age than everyone else which made me very proficient though I never had much to say!

Being practically the last batch to serve National Service in the British Army, I decorated the officers’ mess, and then the Commanding officer’s house, and ended up designing recruitment stands – our design studio was an old indoor 202 shooting range!”

Tell us something about glass designing. What are the elements of this discipline and which projects you’ve worked on? You’ve designed a glass sculpture for Sultan of Brunei. What was it about and what was the experience?

“Glass is a fascinating material – one that has become a real “superstar” in the 21^st century. In all my early projects in the Middle East, I used a lot of glass after being introduced to innovations in glass by experts in glass techniques. Till today, I am still working with Joos Van Bussel of Glass Deco and the top glass blowers from Novy Bor in the Czech Republic.

I have worked with Murano for the chandeliers in the palaces etc. I was commissioned single handedly to design a range of glass furniture called the Liberty Collection. The challenge was how to make structural furniture using blown glass elements and flat slab float glass, cutting and shaping and adding textures and shapes, incorporating technology such as water jet cutting and UV gluing. Bending and toughening in the same process, changing from opaque to transparent at the flick of a switch – these are all exciting and useful innovations which open up design avenues.

A project I worked on in Singapore involved many glass elements – I designed a 9 metre chandelier, a glass lined dome, glass balustrades, glass insets and glass floors, glass spiral staircase, glass column caps, glass bar and a lot of glass furniture – this highlighted how glass as a material can be used in all areas; decorative, practical and structurally.

The Brunei project was a 16 metre glass tower in the centre of Jerudong Park. The brief was to make a sparkling diamond. The “ diamond “ stood in the centre of a fountain and the company who took on the job had absolutely no idea how to make it . The tower had to be constructed in stainless steel to support all that glass and the trick was how to make the stainless steel support “disappear “ . With Glass Deco we worked out the solution which even surprised the structural engineers – like with a lot of other projects, my answer was only believed upon completion. And to me , that is the bane of a designer’s life – how to convince the client prior to the actual physical completion – 3D visuals and other tools do help – but it is really the actual reality that will make them go “wow” – he does know he is talking about !”

You’ve designed projects in different parts of Asia, Middle East etc. How is each one different from the other? Did you have to face any cultural limitations? Any unforgettable experiences that you would like to share with the readers?

“Projects stem from a need to decorate or build. Wherever you are in the world you must surely be influenced by your surroundings and culture. These must be integrated in the “genius loci”.

You would not build an igloo to live in Bali, and you would not build a Balinese villa in Alaska. On the other hand, I feel that there are many construction techniques which can be “cross pollinated” among areas which share many climatic / lifestyle similarities. That is why I am so passionate about incorporating tropical natural elements in my projects in the Middle East and India. I feel that people living in the Middle East should not be confined to glitzy air conditioned concrete boxes. In the course of my career , I have started in the West, moved to the Middle East, and ended up in the Far East – this has opened my eyes to many possibilities . By this , I do not mean the touristy aspects, but Asian architecture from its roots and practical successes. Not slavish copying but intelligent adaptation is the key . With the development of society , and the stresses and strains that come with it – I believe that serenity and beauty come with the integration of nature into our life style , and home can be a daily retreat and not just restricted to a “ resort” experience.

Design has also become global in the sense that the design practice can be based in one country and the projects are scattered internationally. CAD, 3D drawings, visuals etc can be manipulated and downloaded in a thumbdrive or virtual servers – a big change from the old days when every idea had to be drawn up by hand, no photocopying just smelly blue prints, and making up presentation boards with materials stuck on with cow gum . However, these technical aids have their drawback. The client does not know who actually did what, and whether the idea is in fact original or just a paste job – I am still very old fashioned in that sense, I believe that the designer should know how to draw – I cannot conceive any idea without a pen in my hand. – it is like an extension of my brain – to conceive a form or shape , one will have to draw it – just like writing – abc leads to words, words to paragraphs, and paragraphs to scripts- similarly with design concepts.”

You’ve worked on several projects for royal families in South East Asia and Middle East. Is it more demanding than the others? Do you feel restrained?

“The main restraint is that I cannot take pictures for my portfolio – I will be shot on the grounds of breaching security and privacy ! Other than that, I have and continue to be overwhelmed by their graciousness and hospitality.”

Your recent project the Japengo café in Mumbai, seems very texture based. What was the inspiration behind it?

“The original Japengo that I did in Palm Strip , Jumeirah made a statement using materials from the Far East – this seemed to work well as my brief was to match the Pacific Rim cuisine. With Café Japengo in Mumbai, I wanted to expand on that theme but not to replicate it.

My original concept was the kitchen on the ground floor with a dumbwaiter to assist with the service. This was vetoed by clients and the challenge was to have two levels with open kitchens and yet maximise seating space ! Also, to make sure that the customers do not have the feeling that they have been given “ back of the bus “ seating – that is where the orchestration of the materials come in – to make each part of the restaurant unique and comfortable.

The ground floor has coconut poles dividing two areas and a raised teak seating levels. The seating ranged from floor seats to high and low backs – variations on a theme using different materials but with the same feel.

Texture does indeed play a large part – and the comments that I get is that each time the customers come in – they are not bored – what seems to be understated tones opens to the different textures and materials – from hand made paper to slate.

I paid a lot of attention to the lighting because I wanted to use them to add interest and shape – there is a 10 metre long light made from corn shucks which follow the same material as cubes on the second , The giant serpentine light becomes circular pendants on the ground floor.

Railway sleepers which form a screen on the landing of the stairs at the ground level become the decorative elements in front of the stainless steel. As you can see , there is a link in the use of the materials – However, whilst these materials are decoratively impactful, my main concern was functionality – i.e. a low maintenance restaurant that works – otherwise F & B will hound me!”

Is there any dream project you would like to do in the near future?

“My own resort hotel in the mountains or desert.”

If you hadn’t been a designer, what would you be?

“An artist or someone in the arts.”

What do you think about the design industry in the Middle East and particularly Dubai? How would you compare it to say a place like Singapore?

Suddenly, it seems to me that the world is discovering Dubai – and because of the surge in industry players wanting to get a foothold in the growth – this is happening too fast to sort out the wheat from the chaff !”

“Dubai is definitely different to Singapore – first of all, there is the pace – which has outrun Singapore now.

Secondly – there is much more spirit in the risk taking and innovative challenges – Clients are much more enlightened and cooperative – wanting to stand out rather than take the safe path.

Thirdly, there is a greater realism from the budget point of view. As designers, it is our role to give our clients that best that they can get for their budget. In Singapore, unfortunately to some sectors, the idea of professional design fees seems to be alien – funnily enough the clients do not seem to realise that the designer will need to get paid some how.

*There have been a number of articles published about DESIGN UNIT and its principals including Brian Adams and Jasmine Tan in the mainstream media such as the Straits Times media, Streats, Home & Décor but due to licensing requirements, we are prohibited from reproducing these articles on our website. However, these articles may be viewed upon request.*

Brian Adams