Beauty Of The Unexpected

We talk shop with the co-founders of Prestige Global Designs, an international award-winning interior design practice with an appetite for breaking conventions.

- Ben Chin

FOR INTERIOR DESIGN doyens Michael Ong and Jeremy Tay, the beauty of their brand lies in the unexpected. The founders and directors of Prestige Global Designs have developed an award-winning practice guided by a razor-sharp instinct and an appetite for breaking design conventions.

Ong, a frequenter of galleries, found an affinity for portraiture in his college years and had always been aesthetically minded.

Tay's path to design, on the other hand, was unconventional. His Lee Broom light bulb moment was at Faye Wong's Singapore concert in 1999. I was intrigued by her costumes and the stage presentation. From the make-up, the hairstyles to the stage - everything was so well-planned. It was like seeing a work of art in progress. From that day, I started to be interested in how people dressed and presented themselves, as well as what effects aesthetics and personality had on people and the surroundings.

Who are your design heroes?

Michael Ong (MO): Renowned architect Frank Gehry. I admire his commitment to unique designs that incorporate new shapes and materials. Some of his works include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Walt Disney Concert Hall in California, and Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris, but my favourite piece of his is Knoll's Cross Check Chair. The strips of curved maple wood look like ribbons, and he, no doubt as he usually does, pushes the boundaries of form and function.