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Asia's leading international design event — which brings together the continent's top architects, interior designers, property developers, retailers, collectors, and private buyers — has returned to the Shanghai Exhibition Centre until March 11th. And this year, Design Shanghai will expand its scope to the famous Shanghai Xintiandi, a fashionable and affluent urban neighbourhood where culture, lifestyle, and dining collide. Design Shanghai @ Xintiandi Design Festival takes place from March 6th to the 19th and is open to the public at no cost.
"Throughout the years Shanghai Xintiandi has given unrelenting support to design, cultural, and art endeavours, creating an off-line shopping atmosphere that is highly interactive, participatory, and creative for the public through countless design and art exhibitions," said Andy Zhang, General Manager of the area's Taipingqiao Project, China Xintiandi. "We hope that the three-year strategic partnership with Design Shanghai will provide diverse inspirations to citizens and design enthusiasts and contribute to promoting the development of original design in China."
Design Shanghai and Shanghai Xintiandi collaborated with art content operator SHANGHE MEICHUANG to anoint Song Tao, Hou Zhengguang, and Du Xinyue as main curators, with Hu Zeming, Tian Mengran, and Deng Min as joint curators. The festival will scatter 18 interactive installations and spaces across the north and south block of Shanghai Xintiandi, the Xintiandi Style Shopping Centre, The House, and the Lakeville Gallery for 14 days.
So far, one of the undeniable highlights of the festival has been Media 10's "Dragon Tree," which uses three-dimensional projection mapping to present images on trees. "Design archaeology of a suitcase" by Jamy Yang produces a collection of ten suitcases of different sizes and from different periods of time, allowing onlookers to explore a diversity of global lifestyles. Meanwhile, Xinyue Du's installation of hand-woven art carpets and mirrors aims to guide participants through an immersive experience in understanding the synergy between handcraft, nature, and colour.
"Renowned international and Chinese designers and artists will gather in Shanghai Xintiandi to breathe life into the Festival with the aim to build a "Design City," said Song Tao. "The Festival's theme is "In Future," putting emphasis on providing an interactive experience and giving visitors a sense of how design can break new ground. Many design events are mainly commercial — we want ours to stand out by combining art, design, and brand culture in different forms and comprehensively showing the creativity of the designers."
The Shanghai-wide celebration of design and creativity will also include coach-guided tours with stops at multiple design showrooms. More information about the festival can be found on the official website.
