The Essence of Craft

TypeO's Pan Yi Cheng shares the design ethos and ideas that shape his architectural practice

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For Pan Yi Cheng, a dedication to architecture blossomed early on; now the principal architect of TypeO Architecture, he knew he had an affinity for the field as early as his secondary school years. He tells us he considered architecture “the highest form of art” in his youth, “one you could live within”. Nowadays, he thinks of architecture as “a way to piece together an alternate form of reality”, working with his team of designers to shape and refine the spaces around him.

With each project, the firm begins by “recalibrating architectural typologies, resetting to their essential, deep structures, and discovering a renewed sense of purpose and meaning”, the architect shares. This also defines his idea of good design, seen by Pan as the authentic expression of real value that spans beyond the conceptual and material to the cultural.

The hands-on work that goes into each project is another defining feature of his success. “We don’t separate thinking from making,” he shares. “Fabrication and production are quintessential in our design process, at the intersection of machine and craft.”

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