Exclusive Interview : Jason Briscoe | AIA SH/BJ 2020 President
The following article is from 践筑集者 Author 那小海
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Preface:
We are launching "Occhio Talk", a new series of interviews where a guest in the field of design and art will be featured every month. Among the interviewees, architects/interior designers/industrial designers/photographers/artists will share with readers their understanding about design, life, aesthetics, lighting across different areas, perspectives and cultural backgrounds. Stay tuned.
Childhood Dream: Architect
Amanda：What made you decide to be an architect ?
Jason Briscoe（hereinafter referred to as Jason）：
I’ve felt like being an architect ever since I can remember. I have creative parents and I, myself, was a very creative kid. I always enjoyed making things, and I was really organized. It was sort of natural. Inspired by my parents, teachers and professors, I naturally embarked on the journey of an architect.
I’ve always had a passion for designing the space around me, whether it was my bedroom as a child, my own apartments or someone else's space. It matters to me where others and I myself spend time, which affects my mood, state of mind and happiness. People sometimes say that if you really love to do something, don't take it as a profession. That's kind of true, but in my case, even in my free time,I still love to do things that I loved when I was young, like sketching and designing my own space. I do these just for fun.
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Amanda : How do you describe the group of architects to the general public?
Jason：I think many architects, before they became architects, were passionate about a lot of things, They had difficulty limiting themselves to just one career path, so they chose architecture because it offers a lot of variety and balance (some might call it chaos!) Architects work involves a wide range of aspects, from fine details to looking at the big picture, from solving really practical problems to creating beautiful works. I like the combination of all these things. I think to be a good architect, you have to have passions for all these.
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Amanda : What brought you to China?
Jason：I came to China in 2010 when the US architectural market had been in the doldrums for a couple of years, and we had been working on small and boring projects. When our company just started practice here, the first project in China was a campus planning project in a university in Hong Kong. Back then, Steinberg, our current President of the company, was working in Shanghai and he kept persuading us, saying ”you've got to come to Shanghai, you must come to Shanghai. We said，“no, no，no，well，ok”. And so we started doing some scouting here and won a project, and that project quickly turned into three projects.
2012 Jason @Shanghai office
We were trying to do the work from the US, but we were having a hard time keeping up. The client said,”You either start an office in Shanghai or you are fired. Then we said, “Ok，we'll set up an office in Shanghai.” We started with a small studio, running it with designers only. At the time, the firm was looking to hire someone to manage and build the practice. One day, another managing partner walked past my desk in the office and told me about this position. I came on a scouting trip here, and figured out it was something I was interested in. A month later, I made the move.
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Amanda : The design philosophy of your firm is “Sculpting Space. Shaping Life”. How do you interpret it?
Jason：It's sort of going back to the thing that I was talking about: what originally made me want to become an architect. I like designing the space around me, because it makes me feel happier. Space has an impact on how people feel even though they don’t realize it. For instance, the quality and the temperature of lighting affect how we feel. That's the idea behind “Sculpting Space”.
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As an architect, we're hired to design buildings and spaces, we call it “Sculpting Space”. Yet, we usually don’t rigidly distinguish between architectures and the spaces among them. For example, as for school architectures, if you remember school days, most of the time you learn theoretical knowledge in the classroom, but in a way, the more important lessons about life are learned in the space outside the classroom. This is what we call "Shaping Life". We're creating buildings, but we're also creating all the spaces in between, and those are the spaces where you live your life.
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02
BEI Zhaolong Hotel
Amanda : Please share the story of the BEI Zhaolong Hotel project and the lighting and shadow design applied to the project?
Jason：On October 25, 1985, Deng Xiaoping and many national leaders participated in the opening ceremony. After a lapse of 34 years, the new renovated BEI Zhaolong chose the same day in October 2019 to welcome guests back to new Bei Zhaolong.
▲The image is from the Internet
Joie de Vivre as the first boutique lifestyle hotel brand in Asia, comes from French meaning “cheerful enjoyment of life”, which is also the core of the brand spirit. Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus said: “Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance”. The design uses this as a starting point to extend the spirit of the brand “Joie de Vivre” throughout Bei Zhaolong.
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We combined Bei Community’s “HAHA THERE” strategy to transform it into a new community culture hub which integrating Humanities, Art, Hospitality and Architecture in order to inspire advancements in Technology, Health and Education through Real Estate development.
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Demolition of the original old double-layer curtain wall allows more natural light inside to enhance the vitality of the entire space. The atrium which was once a quiet tea lounge with controlled access, is now the central, social connection hub with a robust digital multi-media system to host dynamic events, interactive brand experiences, and rotational pop-up retail.
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The new interior architecture employs triangular and hexagonal forms and finishes to seamlessly coordinate with the buildings strong geometries, echoing the heritage and history of Zhaolong Hotel. Individual shapes combine to mimic abstract patterns commonly found in nature, such as the fallen leaves under an autumn tree, or the light filtering through the summer grove canopy.
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The Multi-functional room was constrained by its small size and low ceiling. The multi-media technology and art create unlimited colourful dreams. To counter this challenge, A pure white box with limitless possibilities was designed. Behind the translucent white ceiling and wall panels, an abstract LED display allows the room to completely transform into any environment imaginable.
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The central bar allows the maximum flexibility for serving guests all day. In the morning, guests are provided with a rich and varied breakfast; Mid-day lunch and afternoon tea service provides hotel guests, local professionals, shoppers and community residents with a comfortable break during their day; Later, it becomes a hip urban bar, which com-plements the immersive cultural experience with the theme of “City Memory” presented by the giant sheer screen in the atrium.
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When the weather is good, guests can enjoy the sunny outdoor terrace for various activities and events. Later, they can also watch digital multi-media performances on the façade of the opposite building, showing the changes and romance story of China in the past thirty years.
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03
About Life and Taste
Amanda : What will you consider when selecting a lighting fixture?
Jason：Lighting fixtures need to be functional, flexible and elegant at the same time. And it's really hard to find perfect lighting fixtures. Usually we find a really highly functional lighting fixture, but it is not very eye-catching. And when you want to have a focal point for a scenario, the performance of the lighting fixture may not be so satisfying.
Amanda: What is your opinion on taste?
Jason：Taste is something really personal. Similar to clothes, we all have favorite designers and styles. As to architecture, I think that some architects are really aggressive and bold, while others are quite conservative. They all have different fanbases. To some extent, I think that taste comes very naturally to some people, as if they were born with it, while some people were exposed to their parents’ good taste growing up and some others have to work harder to improve their aesthetics through acquired learning and refinement. Beautiful space and good products can subtly influence people’s aesthetics.
Amanda : Would you please talk about the photography exhibition and ceramics exhibition you held in your office?
Jason：We did some selective exhibitions, not a lot, because we're not a gallery but an architecture firm, however, when we set up our space, we were specifically hoping to keep the walls clean so that we're able to do some exhibitions from time to time. We had a ceramics exhibition and two painting exhibitions.
Jussi is an amateur photographer based in Shanghai，but he has his own company in Seattle. He has a passion for traveling. Like a lot of travel enthusiasts, he hopes to document the places he went to and the landscapes he saw, and to share them with others.
We really enjoyed curating the exhibition and when we assembled the artworks together, they formed a narrative. We walked around in the space, thinking about impressing the visitors with one piece of powerful artwork. I like curating, as it's something different from design. Curating can get me out of my daily routine. We do it on the weekends, so it is also a good opportunity for our friends to gather together.
04
Other Roles
Amanda : As the head of the company, you are involved in the project design, corporate business and the management of the team. Meanwhile, you need to dedicate time and energy to AIA Shanghai/Beijing as the Chairman, how do you manage your time?
Jason：I think that I'm not one of these people following a strict schedule. I adjust my schedule based on workload needs and work progress. I enjoy drawing, engaging with the team during design meetings and discussing the creative part of the projects with clients on site, that's the best part of my job. The business part sort of drags me down, but it's important.
Amanda : 2020 is a difficult year. As the Chairman of AIA Shanghai/Beijing, have you done any strategic adjustment in the work?
Jason：I guess anybody in any kind of leadership role this year feels very stressed out. China was the first to experience the dramatic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic around the Chinese New Year. People started to work from home. It was complete chaos and extremely stressful. Everybody was anxious about what would happen. As an organization that serves professional designers, we did a series of webinars, where we discussed topics that people really needed to understand and focus on at that time, including how to get through today and tomorrow, how to how to gradually return to work.
After a series of webinars, people grew tired of these topics. In the summer, we organized a series of offline events that were content-light and more focused on socializing, as we found that people wanted to meet up and get to know each other. Then, moving into the third quarter, one big focus of our work was the annual design award. Even though this was only the third year, I thought it was a priority that fitted with our mission and needed to be passed on, so I had to make sure that it would go well. This year, we have 150 entries for the award and a great jury. We are looking forward to amazing presentations. Because of this year’s sluggish economy, we have set a rather affordable ticket price of RMB 350 per person. We have maintained good relationships with the relevant groups, including members, academic institutions, sponsors, and other regional branches.
Amanda : Have you done anything innovative this year that you hope will continue in the future?
Jason：Before, we really focused on, what I would say, was a “traditional” presentation on architectures. A lot of architects came in and presented the work they had done，which was great，but it's just not my interest. What I want to do this year is really challenging, and it’s something very different, as I think architects are creative thinkers, problem solvers, and inventors of the future of design.
What I'm really interested in, and what I'm trying to do in a different way this year, is to present architects in some type of architectural work as non-traditional roles, or non-traditional design professionals. That's what people are really eager to learn about.
Amanda&Jason