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 A Cultural Standpoint    promotion of such renovations on social
 media is actually worrying to Ma. “On one
 In Atelier Lai, it is believed that de-  hand, it is easy to copy, so there will be
 sign concepts should be built on a certain   many such commercial projects in similar
 cultural standpoint, as an exploration to   styles,”  he  pointed  out.  “On  the  other
 make the design last into the future. “For   hand, if you want the structure to have a
 example, if you pay attention to how Chi-  long lasting value there, which is scarce,
 nese drink coffee, you will realize that we   it should maintain its own cultural depth
 have our own ways to consume coffee, not   as well.”
 like the Westerners, nor built on their   In  Ma’s  view,  it’s  good  to  convert
 traditions. However, it is not a Chinese   ancient houses in a bid to promote local
 tradition but a brand new culture booming   culture and history, but the designer
 in the modern East,” Ma explained. Such   should continue their exploration in in-
 thinking allows him and the team to seek   novation based on respect and creative
 a proper presentation of the coffee culture   thinking, otherwise, it will be just like a   Atelier Lai
 that is bred by the locals nowadays through   flash in the pan.
 the design language.   “It’s not a background for pho-                          Established in 2013, Atelier Lai
 As ancient buildings become popular   tography.” Many coffee shops are popu-    provides one-stop solutions in
 types of sites to be converted into com-  lar online for an Instagrammable decor as   design and architecture, ranging
 mercial projects like coffee/tea shops, Ma   there are tons of photos from a similar   from project plan, feasibility
                                                                                 report, interior design,
 agrees that it is already a trend, “Those   angle scattered in every corner of social   landscape design to construc-
 buildings are no longer suitable for people   media. “I don’t think it is wise to design   tion. It is known for design and
 to live in due to the heat-insulation and   any coffee space  into a scene just  for   renovation projects of
 sound-proof problems. But they can be   photography,” Ma argued. “If so, the struc-  traditional Chinese residence
 renovated into a business space under   ture and space is just a kind of background   houses.
                                                                                 atelier-lai.com
 certain cultural scenes.” The eye-catching   of a stage.” A well-designed coffee shop


                                                                      should be able to provide customers an
                                                                      overall immersive experience, where they
                                                                      can kill time or explore as they like. “There
                                                                      are too many coffee shops paying attention
                                                                      to their presence online, which makes them
                                                                      get lost, forgetting the core of being offline
                                                                      as a store,” he said.
                                                                          Ma shares his understanding of de-
                                                                      sign which should have two meanings:
                                                                      First, whether it conveys the owner’s idea
                                                                      correctly and aesthetically; Second,
                                                                      whether it helps the owner understand
                                                                      their own preferences and expresses their
                                                                      concept better and deeper.
                                                                          “Being trendy is not a cure for all.”
                                                                      ‘Trend’ in design is not always the best
                                                                      approach as trend itself is like a FMCG
                                                                      product, which comes and goes quickly. “A
                                                                      structure, or house, will be there for de-
                                                                      cades or hundreds of years; it needs a design
                                                                      that matches its ‘age’, or as we say, intelli-
                                                                      gence density,” Ma concluded.
                                                             T Roof (Photo / Yilong Zhao)

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