Jason Chan is a British architect and has worked on projects in London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Seoul. Before founding his studio, Studio POPPOP, he was a Partner/Project architect at the London-based firm Make Architects and was a project leader at MADA s.p.a.m. in Los Angeles and Shanghai. He has taught at Central St Martin, University of Lund, Oxford Brookes University, and is currently a lecturer at Seoul National University Department of Architecture

 

 

Jason’s studio, Studio POPPOP focuses on design that puts an emphasis on user experience with low-impact building. This means that in the design process, there’s not just a focus on the structure itself, but also a heavy emphasis on community-based design with the intention of bridging people together.

 

We believe in creating meaningful and memorable spaces that have a positive impact on our environment, culture, and society. – Studio POPPOP

 

I believe their mission statement is clearly understood through the pavilion, ‘Growing Together Hong Kong’. This project aims to connect the local community through a shared garden. Inspired by the central role plants seem to play in our communities, the pavilion was designed to create a sense of community by inviting local staff and tenants to claim and care for a potted plant in the garden. Locals are encouraged to share their concerns or questions regarding their plants with the hope that the conversations will extend beyond the plants themselves, fostering interactions among community members. Locals will pick up on the habits of other tenants and will be able to look out for each other and help raise each other’s plants, in turn building a sense of community overtime. Since this pavilion is placed within a commercial setting, passerbyers are also able to interact with the structure. This naturally creates curiosity and further draws people in. This design of this structure allows people to both actively and passively interact with the pavilion without feeling a sense of pressure.

 

As a resident of Cambridge, MA, I am somewhat familiar with the concept of community gardens but I haven’t actually participated in one myself. More often than not, the gardens are usually placed in random plots of land without any visible signage or indication that it is even there. What makes this garden unique is that it is actually meant to be seen. People are meant to be able to walk by and simply watch what’s going on without commitment. Personally, I know that I tend to stay away from spaces I don’t fully understand. If I am unable to figure out what is going on just by looking in, then I am more likely to completely avoid the situation out of fear that I am not actually welcome in the space. Building a community space that also looks inviting is not as intuitive as some might think. So the visibility and the inviting nature of this pavilion is what makes it so successful. 

 

I got to sit down with Jason to hear in more depth about his life and projects at the beginning of the semester, so I would say it was a pretty strong start to my time at SNU. We had covered a range of topics and  even left our conversation open ended, to be continued throughout the semester. 

 

We first started off with the basics, what does architecture mean to him? For Jason, he views architecture as a vehicle for something. Rather than being the main character, it is what drives community and relationships. It is essentially a tool to design the way people live and interact with each other by first understanding how people get to and from places. Not in the literal sense, of course, but in the way we delicately design connections, thus making people’s lives more efficient. Growing Together Hong Kong’ for example is a project designed to interact with people throughout their daily lives in a way that is easy and efficient to them. It is essentially creating a ‘third space’ that exists within the locals’ convenience. 

 

He further builds on this question by describing architecture as the ability to effectively communicate with others. Jason himself has an extensive career with experiences that transcend both borders and cultures. One of the things he heavily emphasizes is being able to meet people where they are, by being able to see them and hear them. He cited a project he had been working on when he was based in L.A. while working remotely with people in Shanghai. The project had reached a point where they were constantly going back and forth between each other but getting nowhere. Once he knew that the current method of communication just wasn’t cutting it, he flew out to Shanghai to meet them in person. Only by seeing them face-to-face were they able to resolve some of the issues they were facing. Their interactions lacked a sense of nuance that comes with in-person communication, so once his partners felt that they were being seen, the tension that had existed between them began to die down and they were all able to come together to efficiently work on the project. The time it had taken to come out there to talk in person had saved them all the time that was being wasted just going back and forth. 

 

Before choosing architecture, I originally wanted to pursue a career in law. This had come up in conversation with a fellow student, and I was told that both architecture and law tend to have the most arrogant professionals. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t caught off guard by this comment, I had never considered myself to be arrogant, nor would I ever want to let myself get to the point where I have become arrogant so I tried to understand where this stereotype was coming from. To a certain extent, the work that we do is extremely personal, meaning we put a lot of ourselves into our work, potentially making us more sensitive to others’ criticism. But also, half of being a designer is being able to convince others of your ideas, one has to believe in themselves in order to be able to properly present their ideas in front of others, could that be coming off as arrogant to others? I actually asked Jason this during our interview and I guess his response gave me a bit of a reality check while also providing a sense of comfort. 

 

Jason makes note of the fact that an architect’s job is not just making the design, but also ensuring that the project is running the way it should be. There are many bodies that are involved in a project, and with that comes different inputs that will more likely than not lead to clashing. The client has trusted you with their money(which is not expendable), so it is crucial that everything runs according to the plan. As an architect you are often put in situations where you have to put your foot down and establish your authority in order to protect the interest of the client. This could be perceived as being arrogant or snobby, but it is essential to running a successful project. 

 

These days we as a society are becoming more aware as to how we differentiate between labels for men vs women for seemingly the same characteristics. A man who takes charge in the workplace is described as a ‘natural born leader’ while a woman who does the same is more likely to be labeled as ‘bossy’. This has been something that has lingered in the back of my mind for a while now, I think just growing up, I have always been hyper-conscious of the way I am perceived. Growing up in America as a Muslim-American, I guess I have learned to pay special attention to looking as least-threatening as possible. This means going out of my way to always look approachable, to always be friendly, and to always be available. Being a woman adds another layer to this as well. As women, we are conditioned to elevate those we are talking to out of fear of being perceived as competition or even being shallow. Over the years, I have learned to speak in a way that is not only easily digestible for those around me, but also in a way that puts less of a focus on me as a speaker. So the idea of being perceived as ‘arrogant’ or ‘too strong’ put me off quite a bit. Can I even afford to be arrogant? But what this conversation with Jason made me realize is that I would have to become very comfortable with making my presence known. People will only step on you if you let them, so I have to learn to respect myself enough to be able to demand respect from others.

 

My conversation with Jason made me think a bit more about not just what kind of architect I want to be, but also what kind of person I want to be. I had to think a bit more critically about my mindset when approaching architecture. Throughout my studies I had struggled with imposter-syndrome and never quite feeling like I ‘belonged in the room’. I think for the longest time I was looking for some kind of external validation to prove that I belonged when in reality, it was a choice that I had to just make for myself. I want to pursue architecture and I will put in the work to continue to better myself, so I belong here the same as everyone else. 

 

I appreciated this fresh perspective from Jason and his willingness to sit and chat with me. It was definitely a conversation that I needed to have and it allowed me to approach the upcoming semester with a new state of mind.

 

Until next time!