Gadeokdo Competition Detail Images

The following images are some close ups from our competition boards.

Recap followed by additional posts

Obviously my New Years resolution to write posts on a regular basis didn't last too long. To make up for this, I will do a quick recap of the last two months, followed by a flurry of posts which will add up to the correct amount of posts, had I been blogging diligently.
My office, Studioreverse, partnered up with United Lab in Los Angeles to participate in the Gadeokdo Gateway City competition in South Korea. We had been talking for months about doing a competition together and were waiting until the right opportunity came along. The project was located on an island just off the coast of Busan. The city is building a massive bridge which will connect the city center of Busan with Gadeokdo island and a string of islands surrounding the coast. The competition asked for us to make a new gateway city, with an emphasis on sustainability, and including a new airport as part of the plan.
Our proposal was to make this island a case study of intelligent and sustainable city planning. The plan centered around a "super hub" located in the north of the island. This hub had an underground network of roads and parking, keeping the surface streets from from cars entirely. A network of canals and some streets provided a mass transit network of water taxi and electric buses. We also made the decision to locate the ticketing, baggage check, waiting areas and support offices of the airport in the heart of the city. Once checked in, passengers could venture out from the airport and see the city - grab a bite to eat, watch a show, go to the park etc. When it was time for the flight, passengers would take a dedicated tram to the airport island, locate a few kilometers away.
Unfortunately our proposal was not selected as a finalist. We still are generally pleased with how the project turned out and will try to develop this further. I will publish close ups of the boards in a post to follow.

StudioReverse: tea set

This past summer I started a side office with several former UCLA classmates. Currently we're working on several renovations and additions here in Los Angeles, but I have also been toying around with designing a tea set that we'll try to get manufactured.


The cups are inspired by traditional Asian tea boxes, but blends the boxy cups with more figurative baroque geometry. Each cup uses supple spline curves for ergonomics while maintaining selective creased edges to define the form. When all four cups and saucers are placed together, they become periodic, creating a larger symmetrical composition. In section, each cup thickens towards the base and where ones fingers would rest, so as to provide insulation against the hot liquid. The cup thins out by the rim.


The first pass was an attempt at making a western style set with rounded cups with handles. I felt like the set was looking too figurative and wanted something simpler. The boxy cups provide a good background to more complex patterning.

Currently we're working on designing the tea pot, and looking into some graphic options to apply to each cup. I'd like for the tea pot to somehow complete the set, perhaps sitting on top of the cups or nesting on a side.


The entire set, composed into a square


Individual Cups


Plans and Elevations


A first pass at patterning using the scriptographer plug-in for Illustrator. The pattern is an array of rotating and scaled hearts which wrap the cup. Ideally, the pattern is something which has commercial appeal, but also can be appreciated for technique and aesthetic effect.