Mavericks in the Making

Mavericks in the Making

In the 1800s, a Texan man named Sam Maverick owned huge pieces of land. Unlike the ranchers of his time, he refused to brand his cattle — a common practice allowing ranchers to identify who owned which cattle. He also allowed them to roam freely across his land, instead of penning them in with fences. Before long, these unbranded cattle came to be known as “mavericks”.

Since then, the term has been associated with spirited, independent-minded individuals who think and innovate differently from what one would normally expect. Here at Capitaspring, mavericks can express themselves without boundaries, are free to defy labels, change the game, and boldly forge their own paths.

We speak to three mavericks who are defying how buildings, spaces, and art are commonly expressed, and have come to define CapitaSpring’s spirit of discovery and possibility.

Rewriting the rules of architecture
Brian Yang, BIG

With multiple accolades under his belt, award-winning architect Brian Yang from BIG is no stranger to pioneering projects. As the main architect in charge of designing CapitaSpring, Brian is finally leaving his mark in Singapore—a place he shares history with.

For Brian, experience is key. As a garden city, Singapore has given everyone an opportunity to enjoy greenery in some way or another and the question was, how does one take it a step further? Through unorthodox design, aluminum facades interrupted in mid-air by greenery, trees bursting through the pockets of spaces running vertically and horizontally throughout the building, CapitaSpring has broken the boundaries of how traditional architecture coexists with nature.

“The heart of the city has tended to be a place where you work during the day and leave to go home in the evening. It was a good challenge for us to meld contemporary spaces into traditional property design, effectively rethinking how a skyscraper could be like,” said Brian.

By exploring spaces that were reflective of the current and future states of work, Brian was able to bring out the diversity and opportunity to move through spaces easily and flexibly. With the Green Oasis, Brian and his team have created different experiences throughout the winding pathways and surprise pockets of spaces. Rain or shine, all types of activities that exist across the parameters of work, play, and living can now take place in these multi-functional spaces.

“Through the pandemic, we’ve changed a lot in the way that people move and live. We have adapted and included easy access from indoors to outdoors; we have allowed you to transit into different environments where you feel psychological and physiological safe.”

By creating spaces for open communication where energy and light can flow easily, little windows of life are formed where onlookers can get a glimpse of life within the building.

Breaking boundaries between work and life
Junny Lee, The Work Project (TWP)

For Junny Lee, the workplace should feel nothing less than a hotel. As founder of The Work Project (TWP), Junny leads the award-winning co-working space operator in the region with a growing footprint in Singapore and Hong Kong. He saw an opportunity to redefine the workplace experience by making it feel less like an office and more like a space you would not mind staying in for extended periods of time. This has seen TWP being named among the ‘5 most beautiful co-working spaces in the world’ by Forbes.

The partnership with CapitaSpring and a focus on building ‘offices of the future’ was what drew Junny to this project.

“It is an evolution of co-working business models towards closer collaboration and the alignment of interests. It also breaks past the traditional definitions of the landlord and tenant relationship.”

CapitaSpring’s flex office model has also been the biggest inspiration for how Junny has designed the many workspaces. As the workforce moves seamlessly into ‘the future of work’, CapitaSpring is both accepting and pioneering work models that suit the lifestyles and preferences of the evolving workforce.

“I am a big believer in choosing an environment that best fits the activity that you are undertaking. There are times when I’m reading a contract that I really do not want to be bothered by anyone. There are other times when we are in a workshop, and I want to hear the thoughts of as many people as possible.”

Despite his success, Junny’s guiding principle remains unchanged from when he was building villages with Lego pieces as a child—to create spaces that maximise the quality of our lives.

Inspiring a world of nature beyond us
Takashi Kudo, teamLab

You’ve heard of digital art. But what about a digital sauna, or a digital forest?

These radical ideas are the brainchild of teamLab, a headline-making Japanese art collective co-founded by Takashi Kudo, who is pushing the boundaries of digital art. While many artists see their physical canvases as mediums for creation, teamLab sees the whole world as their canvas. It is with this spirit that they draw close inspiration for creation from nature, believing that their craft elevates and uplifts what nature has already given us.

Step into the lobby of CapitaSpring and you will be greeted by an 18m tall digital artwork. But that’s not all. In this artwork, flowers grow, bloom, and scatter repeatedly, increasing in number over time. The world of the artwork changes in real time due to its location. Hence, you might just be lucky to catch the piece growing brighter and darker with the sunrise and sunset in Singapore. These flowers also bloom and change throughout the year, creating an overlap of the changing space and time.

“TeamLab’s work and concept has always been to change the relationships among people, and to make the presence of others a positive experience. This is how our artwork is shaped—with the presence and interaction of human connection.”

With a desire to connect humans closer to the world, Takashi pushes the envelope by getting people to rethink boundaries between themselves and the world. With the belief that there is a borderless, continuous relationship between us and the world, Takashi intentionally creates art that requires close interaction and engagement.

Even though technology is the core of the work that Takashi and his team does, he believes that it’s still just a material or tool that helps bring his visions to life.

“Technology allows artistic expression to be released from the material world, gaining the ability to change form freely. This is how boundaries have the opportunity to get blurred and broken.”

As the work and spirits of these mavericks bloom brilliantly at CapitaSpring, we welcome and embrace like-minded mavericks awaiting your own canvas. Come along with us, as we invite you and your community to explore unbridled passions as you make your mark within, and beyond the walls of CapitaSpring.