Features and Design Forum programme at Design Shenzhen 2022: A new perspective on design

Design Shenzhen - the newest addition to Asia's most influential event portfolio, Design Shanghai - announces its inaugural Features program and Design Forum talks. Harnessing the city's incredible energy, Design Shenzhen expects to welcome over 50,000 high-end trade visitors, leading architects, interior designers, influential property developers from the Greater Bay Area, China's elite professional buyers and specifiers, key decision makers from the private and public sectors, and affluent design aware consumers. The inaugural Features and Forum talks program spotlights the innovation and technology that characterizes Shenzhen and its booming design industry.

Dubbed the ‘Silicon Valley of China', Shenzhen is home to leading tech company HQs, alongside vibrant art, culture and design businesses and institutions. Shenzhen's energy can be witnessed in real time through the huge concentration of landmark architectural projects by prominent international and Chinese architectural firms.

 

DESIGN FORUM

Design Shenzhen's inaugural DesignForum invites over 40 prestigious architects, designers and tastemakers to share their insights surrounded by the forum theme ‘Regenerative Design – Design for Wellbeing: Humanity, Sustainability, Technology'. The Design Shenzhen Forum will curate a series of talks which encourages design experts and true thought leaders to come together, and discuss redesigning design itself.

2022 Design Forum Highlights:

Carlo Ratti - Design Shenzhen proudly welcomes Prof. Ratti, whose engagement with Shenzhen includes his co-curatorship of the city's 2019 Biennnale of Architecture and Urbanism. Prof. Ratti is known throughout the world for his radical and innovative ideas on the city of the future, and will talk about the Jian Mu Tower, the studio's 'hydroponic farmscraper', and the astonishing 'hot heart' decarbonised thermal energy system for Helsinki.

Antonio Citterio & Patricia Viel - the distinguished Italian placemakers explain the social, cultural and communal benefits of projects such as the La Bella Vita tower in Taiwan and Genesis Beijing, where they have done the Bulgari interiors: 'Helping people explore their identity beyond making a living and re-find the social and family ties that make us whole.'

Xiaoxi Shi, 2-LA - Xiaoxi Shi of 2-LA design carries the torch to China for one of the oldest and most respected design award schemes in the world. Since 1958, the Good Design Award from Japan has led the way. Now it comes to China.

Sou Fujimoto - Design Shenzhen is proud to welcome this globally renowned Japanese architect, creator of some of the area's most spectacular schemes including the proposal for a monumental floating tower, Qianhai's new city centre landmark, and one of the Haikou Pavilions.

Peter Chang, MVRDV - Radical and innovative Dutch practice MVRDV  is working on a range of projects in Shenzhen which combine to demonstrate the value of adaptive re-use, the creation of cultural landmarks, and above all, the rehabilitation of nature in the city.

Living in the Metaverse - Panel including CAA Lab, Beam Studio, Decentraland, Seymour Powell,  Claire Davies, Daniel Arsham and The Row.

Benjamin Hubert - Benjamin Hubert's Layer represents the 'new' digital design agency, perfectly appropriate for Shenzhen. 'We create products,' he says, 'that will help define the way we live, work, travel and communicate in the future, from smart wearables and furniture systems, to the next generation of AI and communication tools.'

 

 

FEATURES

Design Shenzhen's Features strives to partner with leading design and creative studios, luxury fashion brands and influential media titles to create unique and thought provoking experiences. Expect trend forecasts, one-off installations, stand-out projects and collaborations, that will encourage people to engage and question their understanding of design and the possibilities within this field.

2022 Features & Installations Highlights:

Good Design Select - Industrial designer Xiaoxi Shi collaborates with G-MARK JAPAN GOOD DESIGN AWARD to curate the 'Good Design Select' section and present dozens of cutting edge award-winning designs in Shenzhen for the first time, reflecting comprehensive design values and principles that aim to enrich lives, industries and society. It will also be the first time for the G-MARK award-winning Japanese designs are showcased in Shenzhen.

Materials Installation

Recognised throughout the world as a leading authority on materials and their application in design, Chris Lefteri is one of the most important materials experts working in his field. His studio work and publications have been pivotal in changing the way designers and the industry consider materials. His masterpieces include Materials for Design and six other books in the series of Materials for Inspirational Design. At Design Shenzhen, Chris will present “Materials Installation”, a specially curated exhibition of over 100 different design materials from more than 12 categories, exploring the infinite possibilities of materials and their more organic connection and interaction with design.

Materials Installation by Chris Lefteri  Studio

 

Yum Ziya, Chief Experience Officer

Yum Ziya, is the first Virtual Human that was released by the designer toy brand Underverse. Yum Ziya will be the Chief Experience Officer of Design Shenzhen 2022, launching a series of digital interactive experiences with the Design Shenzhen audience.

 
Yum Ziya, the Chief Experience Officer of Design Shenzhen 2022

 

Nature. Resonance

Sony Design will make its debut in China at Design Shenzhen with an exhibition titled "Nature. Resonance”. Since its inception in 1961, Sony Design has forged its reputation as a leading and award-winning global design team. “Nature. Resonance” spotlights Sony's cutting-edge technology to present their thinking and practice in sustainable development."Nature. Resonance" uses a series of sensory effects such as sight, hearing and touch to lead the audience to experience the origin, evolution and cycle of natural life as if they were there.

 

WAD

WAD/ World Youth Designer Conference will present a concept space "Back to the Oasis" designed by Gaetano Scintilla to illustrate a super-prime residential ‘green' property exploring how luxury and sustainability can work together. WAD believes that no matter how a city develops and changes, regeneration and sustainability must remain the top priorities. WAD is an annual international design event initiated by China, which is held in a ‘Young Development City' around the world each year inviting outstanding young designers from different countries and regions to collaborate.

 

WellConnect

WellConnect is curated by David Hugh, a team of disruptive thinkers based in Cambridge, England and the Guoke Longhui Foundation. They bring together furniture design, biomedical engineering, and neuroscience, to help shape the future of health and wellness. DavidHugh invites industry pioneers and thought leaders including technology brand Dose and lighting brand Ostuni to demonstrate how technology and design will affect one's body, mind, work and living; how it inspires and leads more people to create healthier spaces and experiences in their daily lives, and to explore a better solution for the coexistence of people, environment and technology.

 

Future Home

Future Home is set to be one of the largest features of the show, with leaders from Shenzhen in the fields of interior design, home design, industrial design, art and graphic design coming together to create a heuristic future home space in a conceptual, cross-border and diversified way.

 

Neooold

Neooold is curated by industrial designer Min Chen. It proposes the idea of breaking the boundaries of design, art and craftsmanship, merging them into an innovative creation. This year's theme is “Have a Cup of Tea”, exploring the profound tea culture found in both China and the UK. The same items createdifferent influences in different cultures, which is well worth exploring. Design Shenzhen welcomes a stellar line-up of world class artists and designers including Aldo Bakker, David Clarke, Dan Tomimatsu,Chi Wing Lo, Adi Toch, Ryohei Yoshiyuki. And this year, Neooold is ready to push the boundaries of fusion innovations in terms of materials, scales, techniques, and presenting you with a unique exhibition.

Silver Vessel by David Clark,Neooold

           
left：Watering Can, Aldo Bakker, Neooold
right：Identical (Color Version), Chen Min, Neooold

 

Rural Futures Award

Rural Futures Award, will launch China's first architectural practice award for sustainable rural construction, designed to recognize the architectural practice in the field of rural construction with an emphasis on exploring the value of sustainability, and to form a guide for sustainable rural revitalization. The Awards are coordinated by the young architecture community platform APT (Architecture Practice Talks).

 

Audi

Audi will showcase its vision of future premium mobility at Design Shenzhen, where visitors will be able to experience the Audi design language. With a spotlight on the Audi RS e-tron GT, Audi will also demonstrate the Four Rings' approach to shaping future-oriented design and technology innovations around the customer. Driven to deliver human-centric design reinforced by technology, Audi developed the electric RS e-tron GT as a high-performance Gran Turismo with a modernized and dynamic design, crafted for advanced aerodynamics that further enhance the vehicle's powerful electric drive. Beyond the car, Audi is enriching its mobility ecosystem by bringing the Audi Charging Station to customers in China.

 

Design Shenzhen will host over 200 curated brands tailored to architects, interior designers, property developers and the design-savvy public. Shenzhen will become the third city to host Asia's leading design exhibition and will be the largest curated event of its kind ever seen in the city.