Asif Khan is gaining recognition for the originality of his designs
There is no pigeonholing Asif Khan. The London-born architect and designer is only 35 years old, yet his eponymous studio has compiled an incredibly varied body of work that has seen him work with sound, digital technologies and - most recently - light, as seen in , an installation that was part of Melbourne's The Light in Winter festival held in June.
It was Khan's first Australian project, which resulted in him creating a series of concentric rings in raw aluminium that were suspended above the ground. At dusk, these rings came alive with light, performing a luminous dance as people moved across thresholds dotted around Melbourne's Fed Square.
Art and "the experience of line quality" inspired . Perhaps the only typical element of Khan's design is the fact that it takes a lateral approach, inspired by numerous things outside the standard architectural discipline.
"I find myself inspired by art, science and nature, but as much as that, by the writings of Haruki Murakami," Khan says. "He creates precisely controlled visual and temporal worlds using only words. It's breathtaking. We're trying to do that with bricks and mortar."
Japanese writer Murakami is known for the force of his imagination, and the same can be said of Khan, who has been heralded for the strength of his inventiveness. This, perhaps, is what led companies like Coca-Cola and the Russian telecom brand MegaFon to seek out his services in building jaw-dropping installations.
The Coca-Cola project put Khan on the map. Presented at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the beverage powerhouse's Beat Box Pavilion consisted of an interactive installation created in collaboration with architect Pernilla Ohrstedt. Visitors could create their own mix of Olympic sounds by gesturing and moving in certain ways while going up the pavilion's ramp. Music producer Mark Ronson created the sounds, which included recordings of athletes' heartbeats and squeaking shoes.
Khan also took a digital approach at the Olympics in Sochi last winter. His pavilion for MegaFon was dubbed a "Mount Rushmore of the Digital Age": visitors to the 2,000-square-metre cube could step inside a booth that scanned their facial impressions and translated them into three-dimensional portraits that appeared on an exterior wall, magnified to 3,500 times their normal size.
"My studio is exploring ways in which architecture can become more relevant to how we live our lives today, and the integration of technology is one aspect of that," Khan says of working on the MegaFon and Coca-Cola installations. "It's crazy to think that we carry more technology in our pockets today than was used to send the Apollo spacecraft to the moon in the 1960s. We're trying to harness that momentum for architecture. Digital technology is very good at allowing people to share experiences, and it seems it could be a natural partner for architecture." Khan started working on installations in 2009, beginning with a mirrored, stainless steel mobile, , that he designed for British fashion designer Osman Yousefzada's runway show. Prior to this, Khan's studio - which he set up in 2007 - had been focusing on products, furniture and permanent architectural structures, and these are still a significant part of the workload.
Khan's first project was West Beach Cafe in the coastal town of Littlehampton, West Sussex. It is the sister property to the renowned East Beach Cafe, which was designed by Thomas Heatherwick. East Beach Cafe replaced the kiosk in which its owners, Jane Wood and Sophie Murray, sold fish and chips and ice cream, and the revamp of West Beach Cafe followed soon after. "I was contacted by … Jane Wood while I was still a student at the Architectural Association in London. It was a fantastic start to my career," Khan says.
Other projects soon followed, for Design Miami, Sawaya & Moroni, Swarovski and many others. The shift towards installations came about quite naturally. "People started to ask us to bring our architectural approach to installations and pavilions, as well as more regular structures and interiors," Khan says. "We work across a wide range of sectors, but the desire to make convivial spaces is something that crosses them all."
While architecture has to have "the capacity to be a shared experience", Khan says, it also has to "work at the level of the individual", and it is in this duality that the designer's passion for his career path lies. "I find this spectrum of function fascinating - the potential for something to exist in many states at the same time."
Like architecture itself, the designer's work has breadth and depth that allows it to take many forms, with the only limit being the imagination. Khan's inventiveness is part of what makes his work so appealing - and so very refreshing.
ASIF KHAN
Occupation:
Architect
Defining Moment:
"Failing my first year of architecture school [at The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London] made me who I am today. Knowing your own shortcomings is the best precursor to building a team that can make great things happen."
Words of Advice:
"Never stop challenging yourself through study and practice. Our cities and their populations will be in your hands; they deserve your best work, but it doesn't just mean hard work - have fun, and your buildings will be joyful."
Architect Asif Khan's creative mind is mainly inspired by art, science and nature