Innovation & Impact

INNOVATIONS

Thinking in Prototypes: Reimagining the Condition of Our Living Space Through Design

Entrepreneurship Social Impact & Public Engagement

Innovations & Impacts

For too long design has been synonymous with high-end projects. Established in 2018, Condition_Lab, a Design Research Laboratory led by Professor Peter W. FERRETTO, tries to cater for the people who cannot afford design and hence make real impact through design. To make things happen, the lab has adopted a “slow” approach for their projects, where they listen, understand, and collaborate with the local community. They strive to create a “design story” instead of a “design object.” The team works in diverse conditions, urban and rural, where the common thread is to rethink the cultural heritage and create sustainable change through design.



Prototypes are the first iteration of an idea translated into a proposal. They contain the DNA of an idea but are not the final solution. Through prototypes, Condition_Lab can provide solutions that go beyond the predictable, opening up the potential of design. Over the years, the team has developed a system where every prototype engages directly with local craftsmanship through which specific problems are addressed bddressed by local participation. The prototypes are also an ecosystem of workshops and collaborators. Built upon trust, the projects offer workshops where the young generation (students) can connect with the traditional communities such that both parties can learn from one another.



Condition_Lab has brought their architectural vision to rural minority villages in Hunan, Guangdong and Hong Kong. For instance, the team has designed the Gaobu Book House in a Dong minority village Gaobu in Hunan, as well as the Pingtan Book House in the Pingtan village in Hunan. The two projects are devised to cultivate children’s interest in reading books while playing, creating a new paradigm for rural village libraries in China. Through collaboration with local villagers, communities and stakeholders, Condition_Lab realises how an architectural project could unite and revitalise the rural community as a whole, delivering an innovative model for participatory architecture.


From Research to Market

  • RESEARCH

  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  • SOCIAL IMPACT & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Trained as an architect, Professor FERRETTO has conducted extensive research on understanding urban/rural territories through design prototypes. His research subjects include Architectural Urban Typologies of Seoul, Residual Urban Spaces of Hong Kong, Everyday Urban Conditions, Contemporary Background City, Reactivating the Social Spaces of Chinese Ethnic Minority Villages and Prototype Solutions for a Self-build Timber House in Rural China.

Supported by the Sustainable Knowledge Transfer Project Fund (S-KPF), Condition_Lab has switched to a social enterprise (Condition_Lab Limited) in 2021. As a non-profit business based in Hong Kong, Condition_Lab focuses on improving people's well-being, preserving culture and heritage, and educating the public through design. The company seeks to promote culture and heritage in rural communities by developing architectural typologies, explorer workshops, and craft products. Its missions are to preserve local cultural heritage, foster financial self-sufficiency, and provide Hong Kong youths with real-life experience of rural lives where we can reimagine the condition of our living space.

Through community participation, public workshops, and direct fabrication by local craftmanship, Condition_Lab has generated a new breed of design project that operates outside conventional design practices. The team has developed a design and build process that aims to improve people’s lives through direct engagement with design. For its projects that demonstrate the social importance of architecture, Condition_Lab has been recognized with various awards such as --

Longlisted for Dezeen Awards (2022)
Finalist (Completed Buildings: School) - World Architecture Festival (WAF) (2022)
AR Future Project Awards (Residential Category) (2021)
Building of the Year Awards - ArchDaily (2020)
Judges’ Special Award - Taipei Design Award (Public Space Design Category) (2020)
Category Winner (Completed Buildings - Civic and Community) - World Architecture Festival (WAF) (2019)
Bronze Award (Environmental Design: Culture, Public and Exhibition Spaces) - DFA Design for Asia Awards (2019)

Photo