DESIGN CHINA BEIJING 2020 PRESENTS FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS AND A FORUM TALKS PROGRAMME RESPONDING TO A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD

Participating Chinese and International exhibitors and partners affirm their commitment to the fair and strength in the Chinese design market

Beijing, China, 18 September –– Design China Beijing will return next week for the third year from 23rd to 26th September in Beijing and as part of Beijing International Design Week.

The third edition of Design China Beijing will feature more than 100 international and Chinese design brands. Alongside the main show programme, a series of satellite ‘Feature’ exhibitions and the Forum talks will investigate the transformative power of design and its role in and response to a post-pandemic world.

Zhuo Tan, Director of Design China Beijing and Design Shanghai, comments, “during this unprecedented time, we hope to utilise the power of design to contribute to our community. Therefore, this year’s show in Beijing will focus on how design creates solutions, and we are eager to explore and share industry trends through our fellow exhibitors and partners.”

Design China Beijing 2020 plays a pivotal role in this year’s global design calendar, as one of the first leading international design trade events returning with a physical presence following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Neil Gaisford, Managing Director for Retail & Home at Clarion Events, who own Design China Beijing says, “we are pleased to see the fair return to Beijing as scheduled, and to bring together the design community in China for the first time this year. The commitment from participating exhibitors and partners is a testament to their resilience and desire to reconnect face to face with their customers.

DESIGN CHINA BEIJING FEATURES
CREATE CURES
Initiated by designers Frank Chou and Chen Min at the early outbreak of COVID-19, Create Cures invited designers from all around the world to share solutions for public health problems. There will be a physical space at Design China Beijing to present the interview videos of each participating designer. A selection of Create Cures prototypes will be displayed such as the Elbow Sock by Raw Color and a 1-metre long stick by Simon Kämpfer. Visitors are encouraged to experiment and interact with these pieces on site. This interactive presentation is intended to simulate how we communicate with each other under dire circumstances and rebuild an optimistic spirit for the community. The Create Cures designers will be presenting their work on the Design China Beijing Forum stage on Thursday 24 September at 11:00am.

PROJECT RE:SET
Re:Set is an experimental project devised by ONEWOOD Bar, designed by DNA. While serving as the show’s central bar, Re:Set aims to investigate how the pandemic has transformed social activities and how people navigate the delicate relationship with their environment. A ‘live experiment’ encouraging interaction in a hospitality setting with pandemic-era measures in place, Re:Set aims to establish a template for future events and complex social gatherings.

CASA CASA HOME
As one of the first design furniture shops that represent international brands, casa casa is committed to bringing design into daily life and introducing design products to more people. For Design China Beijing 2020, Casa Casa will present pieces from 22 brands including Zanotta, Carl Hansen & Søn, Vitra and Cappelini in curated bedroom, study and outdoor settings to provide a more realistic and tangible experience. This section is intended to illustrate how design products can be incorporated into living spaces in a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing way.

FORUM AT DESIGN CHINA BEIJING
Select speakers participating in Design China Beijing Forum
Design China Beijing’s theme this year is “Design Thrives to Revive the World” and continues to focus on sustainable design. The Forum will specifically focus on how mindful design helps us to survive and thrive in this post pandemic world. In this unprecedented year, Forum Progamme Director, Aidan Walker has incorporated a series of virtual contributions and commentaries from leading international names in the design community including Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham in Tokyo, Nada Debs from Beirut, Lebanon, Ross Lovegrove from the UK and Marcel Wanders from the Netherlands. Live onsite speakers include Aric Chen, Zhuang Ziyu, Zhang Lei and Shuhei Aoyama. Topics range from ‘The Search for Immaculate Form’ (Lovegrove) through ‘Re-Formation’ (IDEAT editor in chief Simone Chen with ShuoWang) and ‘Creative Luxury’ (Wanders) to ‘From Chinese Form to Chinese Narration’ (Ziyu Zhuang.)

RIBA DESIGN SPRINT
Selected RIBA speakers
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) will be participating at Design China Beijing for the first time. On 24 September, RIBA will host a design sprint titled “Modern City Garden for a New World”, a one-day design challenge during which participants will be encouraged to re-interpret traditional Beijing architecture typologies such as the hutong and siheyuan (traditional courtyard residences) and incorporate new design approaches and technologies. A panel of judges will conduct a live design review, choose a winning proposal at the end of the design sprint.

Earlier this year, RIBA started the “Hello China” initiative to further engage with the architecture and design community in China and the Pan-Asia area. At Design China Beijing, RIBA will host a panel discussion on social context and cultural heritage of Chinese contemporary architecture.