A New Perspective on Design: The Launch of Design Shenzhen
)
13th February, 2023 - Design Shanghai, Asia’s largest and most influential design fair, this year presents a new addition to its event portfolio: Design Shenzhen. Harnessing the city’s incredible energy, 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. The event will take place from the 27th February - 2 March 2023, at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center (SZCEC), an architectural landmark of Shenzhen in the heart of the city.
Home to the biggest architecture and design, cultural and creative communities in China, Shenzhen is a hub of cutting edge and future-focused innovation. 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 that have been built by prominent international and Chinese architectural firms.
The city, once a fishing town in South China’s Guangdong province, is one of China’s best known economic miracles of the past 40 years. Design Shenzhen will bring new perspectives to design in China, creating a focal point for brands and designers within China’s most successful and fast expanding commercial and geographic region. The show will provide a journey into the future, spotlighting cutting-edge design and technology through global product launches, immersive installations, feature areas and a talks programme that will be led by minds shaping the future of design.
Zhuo Tan, Managing Director of Clarion Events Shanghai Limited, ”Design Shenzhen will join Design Shanghai and Design China Beijing to create Asia’s largest network of annual design shows. The combined events will create a continuous and comprehensive design platform and promote the vigorous development of China's design industry!”
Raymond Wang, Show Director of Design Shenzhen, “Our aim for Design Shenzhen is to launch an exhibition in the Greater Bay Area that has an impact within Asia and on the international stage. As China's first 'City of Design' designated by UNESCO, Shenzhen is undoubtedly the best place to host the cutting-edge design event. The first 'Design Shenzhen' will continue the professionalism of our series of exhibitions. As a brand-new exhibition, we invite industry pioneers in the fields of design, culture, creativity, etc., and look forward to bringing the vitality of design to Shenzhen this December.”
Design Shenzhen’s Features strive 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.
2023 Features & Installations Highlights:
Above: Audi RS e-tron GT
Audi - As the event’s exclusive top-tier partner, Audi will showcase its vision for premium mobility in China’s Greater Bay Area. Audi’s exhibit will immerse visitors in a world of forward-thinking technology, design aesthetics and sustainability solutions embodied in the RS e-tron GT. This dynamically styled four-door coupe reinterprets the classic idea of the gran turismo, striking a perfect balance between performance and comfort.
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. The exhibition 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.
Good Design Select: Curated by Industrial designer Xiaoxi Shi in a collaboration with G-MARK JAPAN GOOD DESIGN AWARD this section will present dozens of cutting edge award-winning designs to Shenzhen, reflecting comprehensive design values and principles that aim to enrich lives, industries and society. It will also be the first time for these G-MARK award-winning Japanese designs to showcase in Shenzhen.
WAD, the special exhibition "Back to the Oasis · Back to the Oasis" curated by Gaetano Scintilla, an Italian designer who is known as the "Godfather of Colour", will present to the public the "post-tech" era. The most common dryland plants and climbing plants in the oasis are used on site to show vitality naturally, remind people to return to their inner perception and stimulate multiple interactions with the environment. At the same time, by selecting low-saturation natural materials such as gravel, wool, clay, linen and other low-saturation natural materials to echo the colour of plants and soil, the unity with the natural environment is realised, prompting people to start to become aware of themselves, feel life, and then focus on inward exploration. Return to that unique spiritual "oasis".
WellConnect is curated by Design Shenzhen, DavidHugh and Li Zhefeng, and will focus on new ways of living in forward-thinking home and work spaces, exploring the human connection to technology and presenting innovative lighting solutions for health and wellbeing. A "meditation cave" will be built to create a sensory journey of sound and light.". 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.
Above: WellConnect
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 is curated by industrial designer Min Chen. It proposes the idea of breaking the boundaries of design, art and craftsmanship, and 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 make different influences in different cultures, which is well worth exploring. Design Shenzhen welcomes a stellar line-up of world class designers including Aldo Bakker, Dan Tomimatsu and Chi Wing Lo. This year, Neooold is ready to push the boundaries of fusion innovations in terms of materials, scales, and techniques, and to present you a unique exhibition.
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 2023.
Yum Ziya, the Chief Experience Officer of Design Shenzhen 2023
The Design Shanghai Forum programme has carved a reputation as the leading global platform for design thought leadership, hosting presentations from world-renowned designers, such as Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola, Paola Navone, Tom Dixon and Chi Wing Lo. Design Shenzhen will build on this platform to shine a light on the unique environment of Shenzhen, focusing on more forward-thinking design topics and the adoption of technologies in the design industry. Sponsored by PPG and Duravit, the 2023 Design Shenzhen Forum invites over 40 prestigious architects, designers and tastemakers to share their insights around the forum theme ‘Regenerative Design – Design for Wellbeing: Humanity, Sustainability, Technology’.
Aidan Walker, Design Shenzhen Forum Programme Director, “Our homes, workplaces and public spaces must give us value, authenticity and belonging. The products that we create and use must express the permanence and nobility of craft and craftsmanship, while we discover new materials and technologies that assure our renewed connection to each other, to the community and to the natural world. Specifically for Shenzhen, technology capital of China, if not the world, this brings the digital world into full focus. At the same time as we regenerate our natural environment, our buildings, our cities and our sense of ourselves, digital technology opens new horizons and proposes new ways of living. The challenge is to ensure that both this digital process and the natural one are aligned.”
Building on the reputation of Design Shanghai, Asia’s leading design event, known for presenting thought provoking designs and forum discussions from and international talents across a global design stage, Design Shenzhen is a new regional design event that is set to be the most extensive curated event ever presented in the city. 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.
-ENDS-
FOLLOW US:
Website: designshanghai.com/design-shenzhen Instagram: @design_shanghai
Facebook: @designshanghai
Twitter: @designshanghai
#designshenzhen
LOCATION
Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center Futian District, Shenzhen, China
OPENING DAYS/TIMES
27.02.23 -10:00-21:00 28.02.23 -10:00-18:00 01.03.23 -10:00-18:00 02.03.23 -10:00-17:00
Registration Link: HERE Press Kit: HERE
FOR ALL PRESS ENQUIRIES:
Andrea Covington | andrea@bacchus.agency
Innes Rose Hall | innes@bacchus.agency
Bonnie Milner-Whamond | bonnie@bacchus.agency bacchus.agency
NOTES TO EDITORS
ABOUT DESIGN SHENZHEN
27th February - 2 March 2023
Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center
Futian District, Shenzhen, China
Featuring everything you’ve come to expect from the creators of Design Shanghai, Design Shenzhen will be a razor-sharp bespoke event – contemporary, modern and driven by design – distilled into a concentrated combination of architecture, design and style, and carefully tailored to suit the needs of the local market. Design Shenzhen will provide the opportunity to do business face to face, for which there is no substitute. With over 200 world-class brands and installations, it will be the largest curated event of its kind ever seen in Shenzhen.
designshanghai.com/design-shenzhen | @design_shanghai
ABOUT Clarion Events | Clarion Events Shanghai Limited
Clarion Events is one of the world's leading event organisers; producing and delivering innovative and market-leading events since 1947. In more recent times, the firm has grown into a truly international business, with a portfolio of events and media brands across a range of vertical markets. Clarion provides a range of services to the design, fashion, furniture, and interiors sector through market leading brands including Top Drawer, Premium Berlin, Lighting Design Awards, and January Furniture Show. clarionevents.com