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Shenzhen Design Week kicked off

Greater Bay Area design exhibition

Visitors enjoy works displayed at the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Design Exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Architecture in Futian District, Shenzhen, yesterday. The ongoing exhibition is part of the Shenzhen Design Week, which will last until April 30. Liu Xudong

Foldable vehicle wins big at design award

Cai Yijia (L) presents Halo City as his teammate (C) looks on at the Shenzhen Global Design Award on Friday night. Liu Xudong

Halo City, an ultra-compact moped-like vehicle characterized by a perfect balance of functional design, material selection and marketing, was the biggest winner of the first Shenzhen Global Design Award.

In addition to the grand award, two golds, four silvers and 10 bronzes were also presented at the award ceremony held Friday evening. Total prize money given by the design award was US$1 million, of which the grand prize was US$200,000.

Halo City is a foldable vehicle. The material, design and the folding pattern are all original designs from Shanghai-based agency A-four Design. According to the designers, it is a travel tool that aims to solve the “last mile” problem for daily commuting.

With a compact structure, the vehicle can be carried on public transport vehicle or put in the trunk of a car. The whole design embodies a new mode of transportation and an environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

“The competition provides a very good platform. I think designing doesn’t mean working behind closed doors. It requires active communication,” said Cai Yijia, a member of the winning team.

The two gold awards were presented to WT2 Real-time Earphone Translator and BioLite CampStove 2. According to the judges, the two pieces are both ingenious and people-oriented. The former helps people surmount language barriers when traveling or living abroad, while the latter burns renewable biomass to create a smokeless fire that can cook meals and boil water in outdoors.

Launched in 2017, Shenzhen Global Design Award aims to discover and commend outstanding designers with vision, creativity and influence. It also aims to enhance the exchanges and cooperation among designers from different countries, inspire the industrialization of creative design, and promote innovative design concepts.

A total of 1,014 entries from 12 countries and regions were submitted for this year’s selection. The organizer invited eight senior international judges to select the winners.

The opening ceremony of the 2018 Shenzhen Design Week officially kicked off Friday morning. More than 1,000 designers from 25 countries and regions participated in the design week and more than 2,500 pieces of works are exhibited through April 30.


Italian designs showcased

As a highlight of this year’s Shenzhen Design Week (SZDW), a themed pavilion displaying Italian designs is open to the public at the Design Society | Sea World Culture and Arts Center from Friday to May 4.

Themed “From micro to macro: Italian designers in South China,” the exhibition highlights the strong presence of Italian practitioners operating in different fields of design in South China, particularly in the Pearl River Delta region, where cultural exchange is the starting point to developing innovation and creativity.

The pavilion is designed by the Italian Design Association (IDA) based in Shenzhen and curated by the architecture and design department of Politecnico di Torino.

“The design of the pavilion is developed by members from IDA. It is inspired by the concept of ‘caravanserai’ and the convoys who moved along the ancient Silk Road and gathered around a circle as a place to share and exchange,” said Francesco Carota, one of the curators of the pavilion.

“I think the most important thing is really to work together. I think both China and Italy have a lot to offer to each other. So this is one of the best occasions for us to show our works,” said Maurizio Vrenna, another curator of the pavilion.

Residents look at an exhibit. Sun Yuchen

For the very first time, SZDW will feature a “guest of honor” country, with Italy being the guest of honor this year.

Han Wangxi, director of the office of the Organizing Committee of Shenzhen Design Week, said the exhibitions and activities during SZDW will not only enable Shenzhen designers and citizens to further understand the essence of Italian designs, but also open a new chapter for bilateral cooperation in fashion design and design education.

The organizer set up an “Italian Day” yesterday. Workshops and roundtable discussions were held, leading to in-depth interpretations of the avant-garde works at the pavilion.

In addition, April 28 will be NABA Day. A series of faculty and student projects from Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano (NABA) will be on display to offer a complete view of the design world.

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