Soar Design Studio — Architecture and space are the connection of man and nature.

Ray Chang holds a master’s degree in architecture from Tunghai University. He is the director of Soar Design Studio and an architect at Ray Architects, specialising in architecture, interior and landscape design. Chang draws on nature and the elements to create simple beauty, while emphasising conceptual evolution, sense of space and diversified designs to create spatial value for clients and users. In his view, modern life is best described in terms of mobility – but it is tranquillity that remains the most needed spatial experience. The studio’s design philosophy strives for a balance between a poetic nature and an experimental design. While complying with the needs of users and the environment, the agency’s members challenge conventional notions of space to create an architecture that reflects a dialogue between man and nature.

Soar Design Studio in an Interview with Red Dot

Red Dot: Why did you become a designer?
Soar Design Studio: I wanted to use my own experiences in Taiwan’s nature and countryside to create space – and try to use experimental and local practices that are different from previous spatial designs.

What does design mean to you?
Design is a series of thought-provoking questions that evoke various emotions, which can then be expanded into more possibilities and poetry during the creation process.

To what extent do you think new technologies are changing design?
New technologies and techniques allow us to re-evaluate and verify our design concepts in many ways, which allows us to create new types of designs. However, technology cannot help us think on a deeper level and we need to avoid being overly reliant on new technology because then we would neglect our own thinking and senses. New technologies and techniques should focus on expanding infinite possibilities.

What makes your work unique?
I try to incorporate natural elements into the design process, break down common values, get rid of market control, and create more diverse experiences and feelings instead of constantly manufacturing similar things. I focus on creating a local aesthetic and spatial experience, and make the space present a uniquely poetic and natural aesthetic through various design techniques.

Please describe the concept of creativity against the background of your award-winning work.
A spatial experiment and an adventure of invasion from nature. The design of the office makes full use of natural design methods often used by the firm: microclimate, porosity, openness, freedom, flow and introduction of nature reflects the design ideal. It also echoes the unique timelessness of this old house, as we create a sense of time in the objects, the design and the empty space.