Bring on the Collaboration — Design Anthology

Creative platform DESIGNEW pairs emerging designers with local manufacturers in the hopes of inspiring both to pursue higher standards of design. We spoke with co-founder Mario Tsai and some of the designers to find out about their projects following the platform’s debut exhibition at Shenzhen Design Week 2020

Up until now, young Chinese designers have always been self-sufficient in their practice: designing, producing and even selling on their own. Only a few get to flex their design muscles by creating for local brands, but it’s not that there's no desire to do so, it's just that, as Mario Tsai explains, ‘designers can't find furniture brands that they have something in common with.’ As an emerging designer himself, he had also noticed that even though there are many notable China-based brands, opportunities for young designers are still scarce.

It’s out of these realisations that experimental, collaborative and non-commercial design platform DESIGNEW was born. Curated by Tsai and fellow designers Ren Hongfei (of WUSHE and JOYS Living) and Zhao Yun (of TIWU), DESIGNEW has invited 14 Chinese product and furniture designers to work with local wood and upholstery factories.

‘This is a great opportunity for both sides to better understand each other,’ Ren says. ‘The designers will be able to learn about mass production techniques, while the factories will learn about a higher level of craftsmanship. We don’t expect to change the status quo, but we do hope to gradually inspire both to pursue higher standards.’ Under the theme Infinity, the resulting works were exhibited at the 2020 Shenzhen Design Week.

Zhao's Carve bookshelf (in collaboration wooden furniture manufacturer Neodiko) aims to solve two shortcomings: bookshelves such as these can take up too much space during shipping and once they arrive, they’re difficult to assemble by the user. Zhao’s solution was to use mortise and tenon joints so that the elegant shelf can be easily assembled.

Also in collaboration with Neodiko, Ren’s Chang'an room divider is inspired by its namesake city's ancient brick walls. The minimalist room divider has a modular design that can be assembled vertically or horizontally depending on the user’s needs.

Also concerned with space-saving design, Zhili Liu (of GYRO) created two foldable sofas: Yi Juan and Yi He are named after the way they’re packed, with the names literally meaning ‘One Roll’ and ‘One Box’. ‘Traditional high-end sofas have always been made using complex processes and the logistics and installation processes create lots of waste. They’re usually also large and expensive,’ he says. His sofas are a response to this, blurring the line between product and packaging.

Another noteworthy designer is Stockholm-based Qian Jiang (of Studio Dejawu). His Outside the Box collection of tables and chairs was designed in collaboration with wooden furniture producer Moxia and explores the appearance of solid wood, which can resemble a frozen body of liquid.

As for Tsai, his interpretation of the theme meant deconstructing furniture and reconstructing its components into a new typography, hence the collection’s name Rong, which means ‘fusion’. To the untrained eye, the chairs — also produced in collaboration with Moxia — may look simple, but achieving their unique sculptural shape demanded a level of accuracy that most factories can't achieve without special equipment.

Overall, the designs that came out of DESIGNEW’s debut edition show professionalism, potential and a collaborative spirit. Tsai hopes that the project will become an annual event, with the possibility of branching out to cities like Milan in the future. ‘I don't want it to be just a design exhibition, but a bridge for designers and brands to start collaborating,’ he says.

Text / Yen Kien Hang
Images / Courtesy of DESIGNEW