Local Design Firm Turns Laminates Into A Visually Harmonious Artwork

When asked to recall the most memorable projects undertaken at Topic Design Studio, design director Tan Sze Ling mentions the clients who owned a museum-worthy collection of antiques and art. “We had to create a space that threads through different genres of art and styles, while still staying relevant to contemporary living and retaining the familiarity of a home,” she shares.

It is this desire to create personalised spaces, which are equally luxurious and thoughtful that provides the guiding philosophy for every project the design firm takes on. The practice’s holistic design approach also embraces time-tested principles from multiple schools of thought, including Maximalism and the Bauhaus movement. “We are constantly searching for the meaning of timelessness in design, and we hope to achieve that through our works by creating a dialogue between these schools of thought,” explains Tan.

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Applying the firm’s design philosophy towards producing an original artwork, Topic Design Studio created a Cubist-style tableau inspired by a painting by late architect Lauretta Vinciarelli. “We chose to explore the artwork via a theme of internal spaces of equilibrium and balance,” says Tan.

The artwork thus deconstructs the precision and colour saturation of Vinciarelli’s watercolour paintings and reconfigures them into a geometric interpretation. The harmonious balance of light, space, and dimension evident in the paintings is depicted here using laser-cut Arova laminates in gradient hues, suggesting three-dimensional depth and the planes of light and shadow created by natural daylight. Bearing elements of abstract art, architectural drawings, and chiaroscuro, Topic Design Studio’s laminate artwork is a visual balancing act—particularly fitting, it seems, for this design firm.

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