This year's Design Shanghai will feature hundreds of new designs and products from some 300 exhibitors of Chinese and international brands. (Photos/Courtesy of the event organizer)
Asia's leading international design event, Design Shanghai, returns to the Shanghai Exhibition Center from March 9 to 12 with hundreds of new designs and products from some 300 exhibitors of premier Chinese and international brands.
The exhibition spreads over three halls featuring Contemporary Design, Classic Design and Collectible Design.
Ross Urwin is the creative director of the show and said the Classic, Contemporary and Collectible halls shared the same ambition to display quality designs.
"They provide both professionals and the public with an experience that goes beyond the pieces on display to include bespoke installations and collaborations."
The Collectible Design hall, which will showcase unique, limited-edition pieces from international galleries, is curated by Morgan Morris, the co-founder of the Paris-Beijing consultancy Perfect Crossovers.
Morris emphasizes the importance of the hall's special collaboration with The Salon Art+Design in New York.
An extraordinary platform
"It is an honor to collaborate with such an extraordinary platform to promote the future development of the international collectible design scene in two of the world's most significant cities, Shanghai and New York," she said.
The Contemporary Design hall will host high-end Western home products and Eastern designs, including leading design brands.
The hall will also feature the Swedish Pavilion and the Modern Danish Pavilion, the latter featuring the finest contemporary designs from Denmark which is famous for its design creativity and edginess.
And classics are classics - the Classic Design hall will feature a selection of classical style products by sought-after brands.
One clear trend is that the number of Chinese designers in the event is growing steadily - this year, more than half of the exhibitors are local designers.
Many of them are up-and-coming talents. The Beijing-based Frank Chou Design Studio, for example, will present its internationally acclaimed furniture Oriental Series, a blue, minimalist collection.
Chen Furong, who was awarded the Design Shanghai & AD China Emerging Chinese Designer Award at last year's exhibition, will offer a tool collection featuring scissors and knives in the same hall.
Urwin said Chinese designers were using the medium, as a means of combining traditional crafts with modern fabrications, forms and technologies.
"This provides international brands with a fertile market that is rife with experimentation."
Among the bigger names, Chinese designer Jamy Yang is a must-see. Following the success of his art installation at last year's show, Yang will present his YANG HOUSE Craftsmanship installation (pictured above), which makes use of some very traditional Chinese materials and then couples them with a modern twist and lifestyle.
An unmissable feature of the show will be the specially created version of Zotem (below), a dynamic installation by the London-based Norwegian designer Kim Thome.
It was originally created for the Victoria and Albert Museum for the London Design Festival, and then customized for this exhibition in the new venue.
Geometric patterns on a vertical mesh canvas are illuminated in prismatic colors, and reflected by crystals to create a hypnotic visual experience.
The title Zotem combines the words "totem" and "zoetrope" - a 19th century pre-film animation device that gave the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings that appeared to move when the device was spun.
Thome, who originally designed Zotem as a modular and transferable work that could be moved to different venues, said it was good to see a plan come together and to exhibit his work in a new world market.
Science inspired
Another real highlight will be designer Petra Krausova's kinetic glass sculpture Supernova (below), from Lasvit, a manufacturer of glass art and bespoke lighting installations.
Supernova is made of clear, thin glass with linear textures that create beautiful light patterns as it moves through different angles.
It was inspired by the fact that scientists use prismatic refractions to identify a supernova's composition, temperature, pressure and the like as they explore the universe. Visitors who take the time to gaze at this for a while could experience their own lost-in-space feelings.
The event is not strictly confined to the Shanghai Exhibition Center. The city's premier fashion hub Xintiandi will also accommodate two cutting-edge design installations.
One installation will be set up in the newly opened shopping mall The House - this installation will be educational, charting the evolution of the design industry including manufacturing techniques, materials and designs.
Another outdoor installation will feature a large glass structure and working 3D printers symbolizing the future of design.
Date: March 9 to 12
Venue: Shanghai Exhibition Center
Address: 1000 Yan'an Road Middle 延安中路1000號
Admission: 100 yuan to 600 yuan
Call 6279-0279 for details
