and the concept, in words – both of these are
very important to me. When thinking about
the concept, I design small spaces based on
the idea, so I’m working with words and
visuals at the same time. The second step
is to develop the design by making mod-
els – which can be small or 1:1 – and lots of
drawings. Then I develop the colours, which
is the hard part.Where do your colours come from? I mostly
mix them myself. Sometimes I use Pantone
colours, but that’s an exception. I’m using
them for the train line I’m doing in Taiwan,
for example, because of the distance involved.
Pantone has lots of colours, but not enough
for me. Luckily, I find my colours everywhere.
It might be a page in a magazine that’s a beau-tiful blue, so I’ll give that to the paint or dye
factory – which one depends on the material
we plan to use. I check colour samples at
the factory until they’re right. It’s a difficult
process.How do different materials affect the col-
ours in your projects? They don’t. Materials
are absolutely not important to the outcome.
Only colours matter. I don’t want people to
recognize the materials I use, because I want
them to focus solely on the colours. If I use
wood, people can’t tell it’s wood. I always
hide the texture.What’s the maximum number of colours
you’ve used? I used 1,000 for 1000 Colors
Recipe, the installation I completed last year‘Pantone
has lots of
colours, but
not enough
for me’
66 PORTRAITS