Hasta La Ideas

Promotion: Design Shanghai trade fair is set to return from 8 to 11 June 2023 for its 10th anniversary year, with an aim to explore the meeting of eastern and western design philosophies.

One of Asia’s largest design events, Design Shanghai will be taking place at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center over four days in June.

As well as the trade fair, which will stretch over three halls, the event will include installations, exhibitions, a design forum and networking events.

A major focus this year is on how eastern and western design philosophies can meet and work together, with a spotlight put on brands that involve collaborations between Asia and Europe or the US.

These include Chinese brands Stellar Works and U+ as well as Danish brand Royal Copenhagen, whose porcelain nods to traditional Chinese techniques and motifs.

Among the new products set to make their global debut at the event are French brand Christofle’s Mood Asia platter designed for Asian gastronomy, Chinese brand Fuli’s lipstick-themed tapestry created by British fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes and new contemporary Californian furniture from Maria Yee.

Elsewhere in the fair, new products from international brands including Gubi, Mattiazzi, Flos as well as Chinese brand Jianze and Taiwan’s SeeDesign will make their debut on the Asian continent.

Chinese brands exhibiting at Design Shanghai include Pentfair, which works with artisans and craftspeople from all over the world to reinvent traditional handicrafts; the playful design studio Benwu, which features curved lines and bright colours; Junse, which will present new designs by designer Shen Zhanjun informed by the human skeleton; and new brand Nula Living with its local take on minimalism.

Installations this year will include a bamboo forest by architect Chen Hao Ru in the Neooold exhibition space, which promises to create a “vortex” that leads people deep inside it while recreating a sense of “the Jianhu dream”.

There is also Interlude by Chi Wing Lo, which is intended to offer visitors a moment of peace and reflection with its spatial and musical design using folding screens.

There will be two key features: Róng – Weaving, featuring the work of 28 designers who have been conducting deconstructive research into traditional weaving and knitting, and Disappearing Borders, curated by designer Jamy Yang, which explores the meeting of the physical and digital worlds.

A returning feature is the Talents showcase, where 22 groups of emerging designers will explore the linking of China and the West in the form of a “banquet”, and a new display called Design Street, which is curated by Design Burger and aims to build a bridge between independent design studios and brands. Headline partner Audi will also present its “activesphere” concept vehicle.

Design Shanghai’s Design Forum will include a series of talks that focus on a number of design-related topics such as memory and perception in design, holistic design, sustainability and designing for distinctiveness.

Speakers include Aidan Walker forum director of Design Shanghai and Design Shenzhen; Craig Miller, partner and project leader at Heatherwick Studio; Zandra Rhodes, British fashion designer; Ross Lovegrove, founder and director of For Love and Design.com; and Michael Young, founder of MY Studio.

Design Shanghai is celebrating its 10th year in 2023, which will also be its first for some time with no Covid restrictions, as China emerges from its years of aggressive zero-Covid policy that saw previous events postponed or cancelled.

“During the past decade we have provided a platform to share design ideas across China and the global stage and it has been an honour to witness the vigorous development of the design community in China,” said Design Shanghai event director Zhuo Tan. “This year’s edition of Design Shanghai hopes to enhance the audience’s perspective through exploring the ‘re-creation’ of design.”

“For this momentous 10th anniversary we will be comprehensively upgrading the scale and content at the event, with exemplary design showcased from across the world.”

To view more about Design Shanghai, visit its website.

Design Shanghai will take place at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center from 8-11 June 2023. For more information about events, exhibitions and talks, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Design Shanghai as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Design Shanghai to spotlight brands bridging east and west appeared first on Dezeen.