An interlocking puzzle as trophy

The Making Of The Tatler Awards Trophy
The Tatler Award trophy is commissioned by Hong Kong Tatler to unite, for the first time in their 20 years’ history, their pan Asian communities in an annual award ceremony to honour the achievement of society’s elites. The pan Asian Tatler family is an A-list connector for Hong Kong, Malaysia, Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Under their brand and magazine, multifaceted individuals from all over Asia hobnob and share experiences.

The connector spirit of the pan Asian Tatler family inspired our concept of an interlocking trophy, in both symbolic and structural ways. Mortise and tenon joinery— a shared cultural tradition of pan-Asian cultures despite their diversities— became the concept model for the interlocking trophy design. Two crystalline tower forms are physically locked together by the Tatler “T”, a key of 2 solid polished stainless steel bars engraved with the names of the award and its recipient. The trophy is therefore a puzzle of pieces, which can be assembled and disassembled.

As an homage to the Tatler winners who built their successes from the ground up, the crystalline tower form is created not from crystal or other precious materials, but from perspex; a humble, common material metamorphosed into a diamond-like halo effect. Square perspex bars of various lengths are cut on a bias and stacked to form 2 halves that interlock onto a rectangular box. This simple, single gesture transform the material into an internalised, compound effect of reflection and refraction, suspending the Tatler “T” in a shroud of light.

client: Hong Kong Tatler
size: 10 cm x 6 cm x 30 cm
materials: perspex, mirror stainless steel
design and fabrication: June- August 2014, Taipei
location: Hong Kong, Malaysia, Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan, and Philippines