Bach Shop

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We met Bach when we were about to leave Milan in October last year. We were selling our no-need-anymore stuffs. She came to our place to take a tent in a morning. We talked a little while and agreed to arrange another time to talk longer. She then went on her one day trip to somewhere. We soon left Milan, into the mountain.

Several months later, we were told that she had got a place in Corso Porta Ticinese in Milan, an undoubted popular spot pretty near city center. It was a great step forward for Bach from running online business to having a real shop in such a place. We were quite happy when she asked us to be her consultants on interior design. Moreover, Mi, who studied industrial design in school and works in a famous Milanese styling company joined us.

Composed by Bach (interactive design), Bach’s boyfriend Yuan (automobile design), Mi (product & styling design) and we two (architecture), a multi-disciplined team was formed.

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Rooming a Space

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In limited time of site survey, architects collect information by observing, taking notes, sketching, photographing, taking video, talking to locals etc.. When they are back in office, they make sense out of them, giving birth to report, diagram and site model. By then, the whole team can get a good understanding of the site especially by look at the site model talking about the site, away from site.

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Pausa Café

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In response to the theme “re-appropriation” of MIAW 2010, we wanted to dig out some hidden values in the campus. In the building of architecture school, during breaks, people chat outside the classroom while lean against handrails, on which coffee cups or coke tins can always be found. People do it naturally. But the performance of handrail could be better. By just adding wooden boards, we found the potential of handrail lying in its width. Finally, it was proved to be highly welcomed.

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Lamp B

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Lamp A

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Our tiny apartment in Milan, 2012.

The second house we lived in Milan was a super tiny one, about just 20 m². Small as it was, everything had to go vertical: Washing machine on top of fridge; bed on top of a balcony in between bathroom and wardrobe, connected to the living room with a moveable wooden ladder; orange tile on top of bathroom, indicating you could sit there eating watermelon in summer; of course, you could lie or sit or put things on top of wardrobe too.

Although it was so small, it had almost everything to support our life: except fridge and washing machine we talked before, there are a tiny balcony, a ceiling fan, an oven, a shower room, a bidet, and so on. We loved it when we saw it the first time.

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Basket Bin

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14/03/2012 Someone left a cup in my basket.
15/03/2012 I added a red plastic bag to attract more cups but got nothing at the end of the day.
16/03/2012 I tried a professional looking blue plastic bag but got nothing at the end of the day.
17/03/2012 I persuaded people by words, but still got nothing.
29/03/2012 I went back to blue-bag-only solution, and the bag was taken away by someone!
30/03/2012 Someone left a cup in my basket again! I learned that people enjoy throwing trash in semi-right place—a container never says it contains trash.