THE ANSWERS WITH...DAEWHA KANG

The award-winning, London-based architect and designer on making meaningful connections, and thoughtful designs that last.

- Alvin Wong

DAEWHA KANG BREAKS the mould of the self-absorbed creative. “There is no such thing as bad feedback,” Kang is inclined to reiterate in this magazine’s interactions with him. His eponymous, award-winning architecture and design studio, DaeWha Kang Design, has helped Robb Report Singapore create an interactive virtual space called The Movement, marking the publication’s debut in the metaverse. As for physical projects and products that are the company’s mainstay, they run the gamut from reinvigorating the interior of an ancient church in London, to a floating art installation in Germany, to a modern, mixed-used residential and publishing office building in South Korea.

One can only imagine the constrains of commercial objectives, budgets, deadlines and unsettled clients that Kang and his team are saddled with on a daily basis. Yet, he exudes open-hearted calm and generosity as he strikes a balance between his clients’ needs and his creative philosophies.

“Design can have a profound and positive impact on the world,” says Kang, who founded his studio in 2014 after 10 years as a senior associate at Zaha Hadid Architects.

“I design for quality because when we do that, it makes us keep these things and cherish them,” he adds. “Through time, they take on their own meaning because of all the memories that we had. What’s really great (about this design philosophy) is that it allows us to work with people who are inspired by the same thing.”

How do you kickstart your day?

I get started with meditation, interspersed with some light, inspirational reading. These set my day off with meaning, purpose and clarity.