My design approach is listening to a matter by hand-on experiments and shaping it in the most "natural" way. Within my practices, I attempt to create the beauty of balancing between control of design and spontaneity of materials.
About
Erco Lai
He is a designer of a wide imagination and a strongly creative mind.
Still, his fantasy isn’t stuck in a non-concrete world of ideas, he
really gets his hands dirty experimenting with alternative building materials.
Erco Lai’s ultimate goal is exactly to bring innovation in the manufacturing industry,
promoting the abandonment of unsustainable mechanisms. Erco Lai’s guide has always been
the Earth itself, simply learning from nature’s perfect processes.
Meanwhile, he is an experienced industrial designer and has worked with
various materials and techniques, from 3d printing ceramic to sheet metal folding.
His design approach is always searching for the meaning of a material and shaping it in the
most 'natural' way. With these practices, he notices the beauty of balancing between control
of design and spontaneity of materials. Also, he learned how vital it is to listen to materials
and place them into appropriate contexts.
Award & Grant
2022 START PRIZE, Ars Electronica - Nomination
2022 Guiltlessplastic by Rosanna Orlandi - Finalist
2022 Stimuleringsfonds Creative industries Fund NL
starting grant
2021 MA Industrial Design Department Award - Nomination
2018 Golden Pin, Taiwan - Design Award
2015 Heal's Discover, London, UK - Final Shortlisted 5
2011 YODEX Young Designers Exhibition - Selected
2011 SouLangh Culture Park Exhibition - Selected
2011 National Tainan Living Art Center - Selected
2010 National Palace Museum Award - Honorable Mention
2010 Taipei Industrial Design Award - Stunning performances
2010 Taipei Industrial Design Award - Sponsor Award
Exhibitions
2023 Selected in London design week, at Mint Gallery, London
2023 Selected in International Steel Sculpture Festival, Kaohsiung
2023 Collective exhibition at Maison&Objet, Paris
2023 Duplicating Landscape, Salone del Mobile at ALCOVA
2022 Milan at ALCOVA, ISOLA and Guiltlessplastic
2022 Object Rotterdam at HAKA building
2021 Exhibited in DDW at Kazerne and Klokgebouw
2021 Selected in Global Grad Show Dubai
2021 Graduation show, KABK
Selected clients & collaboration
Blue City (NL), Biophilica (UK), TPCreative (TW), Binary Pottery (TW), Hevo deco (TW), 20MM (TW)
A Design office aims to cooperate with material-focused developers, scientists or start-ups to elevate future materials from experiments into the context of daily life by giving matters meaningful forms.
About
ercoffice
Drawing from his cultural background, Erco Lai used the five elements theory as a framework
and guide to illustrate how things work on Earth. ercoffice believe that all things are
interconnected and interact in an intangible system; this system links and balances humans,
the environment, and the Earth. This became ercoffice's framework for projects, based on
the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. In short, ercoffice seek to work
within this framework to create a new perspective on circularity.
ercoffice consider itself a design factory, focusing on digital craft, nature-based technology,
and circular materials. It strives to find equilibrium between traditional craftsmanship and machine
mass-production, while also redefining the roles of digital fabrication and digital craftsmanship.
The 'factory' produces items with alternative materials using digital fabrication techniques.
ercoffice aim to create a place that demonstrates the connection between craft, technology, and nature.
