Hing-wah Chau

Structuring the Environmental Experience Design Research Framework through Selected Aged Care Facility Data Analyses in Victoria

Humans relate to the living environment physically and psychologically. Environmental psychology has a rich developed history while experience design emerged recently in the industrial design domain. Nonetheless, these approaches have barely been merged, understood or implemented in architectural design practices. This study explored the correlation between experience design and environmental psychology. Moreover, it conducted literature reviews on theories about emotion, user experience design, experience design and environmental psychology, followed by the analyses of spatial settings and environmental quality data of a selected aged care facility in Victoria, Australia, as a case study. Accordingly, this study led to proposing a research framework on environmental experience design (EXD). It can be defined as a deliberate attempt that affiliates experience design and environmental psychology with creation of the built environment that should accommodate user needs and demands. The EXD research framework proposed in this study was tailored for transforming related design functions into the solutions that contribute to improving the built environment for user health and wellbeing.

Conceptual Narratives of Yung Ho Chang's Cross-cultural Practice

ABSTRACT Under economic reform and social liberalization in post-Mao China, a new generation of independent Chinese architects has emerged. Among those architects, Yung Ho Chang is a pioneering and prominent figure. His design strategies are shaped primarily by his cross-cultural background and exposure. A salient feature of his works is conceptual narratives, in which the three major themes are everyday objects, voyeurism and the subversion of material norms. Apart from examining his conceptual narratives, this article also discusses his design-studio teaching at MIT, which signifies a shift toward a more socially responsive design approach. His practice continues to cross cultures, not only contributing to the development of contemporary Chinese architecture, but with growing influence worldwide. Besides architectural design, his practice is diverse and in some ways multidisciplinary, with participation in international exhibitions, curatorship, teaching, product design and publications.