Hasta La Ideas

Sun Wentao at Liang Dian Design Center

A rock for the ages? One of the recurring themes we saw from our survey of Chinese designers presented at Beijing Design Week was the use of new materials (lucite being a huge favorite) presented in traditional forms.

Beijing-based designer Sun Wentao’s Scholars’ Rocks series echoes this method of reappropriation but stretches the imagination—the highly prized naturally occurring stones that have been collected by the Chinese literati for hundreds of years are reworked by the designer as foam sculptures. Traditionally, scholars’ rocks were collected based on their abstract aesthetics and thought of as a “tabletop contemplation of the universe.” Wentao takes four consideration set out during the Tang dynasty: thinness (shou), openness (tou), perforations (lou), and wrinkling (zhou), as guidelines for his own creations.

Scholars’ Rock at Open Studio: Beijing Design

Stone at the China Millennium Monument Arts Center

Wentao is no stranger to this formula—his previous works in metal and porcelain take familiar interior elements like vases and bamboo rods and set them in a contemporary context.

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A very fun and at times—sorry, but it has to be said—rather gross performance was part of Vienna Design Week: Sonja Stummerer, Martin Hablesreiter and Tom Hanslmaier of the Viennese architecture and design practice Honey & Bunny were preparing and serving food using the tools and machinery of industrial craftsman.

Located in a workshop, the objective of the evening performance was to prepare a full meal and its accoutrements—including plates, cutlery and drinking glasses—all from scratch. Honey & Bunny’s process involved fresh vegetables, a block of spam, cheese analogues and dough made from water and flour. The tools in use were blow torches, a make shift oven (combining a metal tube with a heat gun), a metal lathe, a table drill and a band saw.

The table setting was completely recreated during the performance. Starting with ceramic plates and metal cutlery, the setup looked very different when the meal was ready to be served.

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Like most urban centers, Beijing is a city of migrants and transients—this year’s inaugural Beijing Design Week dovetailed with National Day when people return to their hometowns to celebrate the extended holiday with their families. Fittingly, designer Naihan Li showcased a collection of mobile pop-up furniture CRATES at No. 8 Dawailangying Hutong in the Dashilar Design Hop district. Inspired by Li’s experience unpacking crates of artwork for the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, the collection is a commentary on “the moody impracticality of globe-trotting.” Unpacking the collection from their shipping shells reveals an entire lifestyle “on the move.” Sofas, foosball table, storage, entertainment centers, workstations, wet bars and beds stand ready for uncrating or packing for the next location.

Li herself is a transplant from Harbin, moving to Beijing in the mid-80s. After a stint in the UK studying design and architecture, she returned to Beijing to, “find the city in its most rapid and volatile state of urban development and simultaneous decay.” This urban flux has inspired her personal work as well as the curatorial work of Bao Atelier, a design consultancy she co-founded with Beatrice Leanza.

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London based designers Joe Wentworth and Samuel Wilkinson have developed a new take on the pendular clock. As many of you may remember, Wilkinson designed the wildly popular Plumen bulb which we debuted in the United States at Hand-Eye Supply.

“Pendola,” their contemporary take on the classic grandfather clock is rather technically complicated—the outcome, however, looks very simple. The clock convincingly meets their design objective of creating something that counteracts the busy lifestyle of our current times. It was part of the Slow Tech: Designs for Digital Downtime exhibition curated by Protein and Henrietta Thompson (Wallpaper Magazine) for London Design Festival. Check out our exclusive video with the designers explaining more about the design of the “Pendola” clock.

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Bamboo Electric Vehicle, Professor Matsuhige Kazumi, Kyoto University

Traveling through Asia, it’s incredible to witness men scaling sky-high scaffolding constructed entirely out of bamboo. A lightweight and structurally strong “green” material, bamboo is a grass that is one of the world’s fastest growing plants. Part of the inaugural Beijing Design Triennial exhibition at the National Museum, the Rethinking Bamboo exhibition explored new applications for this traditional material in architecture, transportation, furniture, lighting and craft. Curated by Freeman Lau (Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Design Center) and Tsinghua University’s Hang Jian (Vice Dean of the Academy of Arts and Design), the exhibition showcases the work of 66 designers representing Asia, Europe and the United States.

Rose Series Hanging Lamps, Korakat Aromdee (Thailand)

I was particularly taken by Indian industrial designer Sandeep Sangaru’s beautifully crafted and functional pieces for the home. Bent bamboo strips joined like lattice work form the foundation of asymmetric bookshelves, chairs and benches.

Tree-shape Book Shelf, Sandeep Sangaru

Chair Jun Zi, Jeff Dah-Yue Shi (Taiwan). Sofa, Sandeep Sangaru (India).

Truss Me Bench, Sandeep Sangaru

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