Anna Zhao anna.whizh@yahoo.com A DESIGN and public art exhibition is now being held at four museums in the city to showcase brilliant modern Chinese designs and the development of modern designs in China. Exploring the theme of “Design and Social Responsibility,” the China Design Exhibition and Public Art Thematic Exhibition boasts over 200 designs displayed at the four venues. The Guan Shanyue Art Museum in Futian District, the main venue of the exhibition, is displaying leading designs in various fields, ranging from fashion, furniture, medical equipment, architectural and environment design to the design of social communities. The Shenzhen Industrial Museum, near Civic Center, also in Futian, is displaying landmark industrial designs from the founding of the People’s Republic of China to the end of the last century in chronological order. The OCT Art and Design Gallery in Nanshan District is sharing documents and illustrations on the development of public art in Chinese cities over the past 65 years. The EPC Art and Culture Center, a few meters away from the OCT Art Gallery, is housing an array of more than 20 pieces of public art designs created during the past five years, including urban landscapes, sculptures and cultural facilities. Designs housed at the Guan Shanyue Art Museum represent the latest achievements in various fields of study. A prominent feature of those designs is their dedication to humanistic concerns. An eye-catching item in the museum’s central hall is a landscape design model of Zhouzhuang, a village renowned for its gardens and water scenery in Suzhou, eastern China’s Jiangsu Province. Named “Sponge City,” the design exemplifies how natural water resources can best serve public water needs while maintaining local ecology. A design of a basement community in Beijing, with pictures and models, speaks about how better designs have helped basement residents improve their living spaces. The designers said they visited thousands of people who live in basements to learn from their point of view in order to “realize a harmonious living space for the basement community.” A model of a courtyard house plugin design demonstrates how young designers have employed modern technology to allow residents living in hutongs, old-style housing with narrow streets in Beijing, to make full use of their limited public space. “Many hutongs have hundreds of years of history — making it hard to renovate a single unit, and there are age-old fights over public spaces among residents living inside. We came up with various solutions, from energy consumption to water treatment. For example, adding a foldable glass roof to a house upgrades the living space without tearing anything down,” a designer of the project said. Other designs, such as clothing that can protect an elderly person in a fall, a senior nursing program by real estate developer Vanke and a rural cultural hall redesign, offer interesting insight into how designs can improve quality of life. Exhibits in the Shenzhen Industrial Museum are reminiscent of life in the 1960s to 80s, when China’s national design was in its fledgling stage. The collection, including China’s first hand tractor, an old-styled radio, an electric fan, a sewing machine, a camera, watches and more, is called “precious” by its curator since the items were so hard to find. “We present these old objects to our visitors here in Shenzhen not to take pride from our own design, but to encourage more reflection on how to create better designs in the future in a climate of global exchange,” said Shen Yu, an exhibition curator. Hang Jian, curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the China Academy of Art, said that the exhibition undertakes the mission of culture transmission and aims to orient future designs in the direction of serving society and people — marking a major difference from other design exhibitions that focus on industry promotion. Speaking about designers’ responsibilities, Hang said a broad range of meanings should be incorporated into the concept, such as designers’ concerns for users, full use of design materials, human society’s sustainable development, and even humanity’s concern for history and lifestyle by refurbishing old buildings. Xu Ping, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said he hopes the exhibition would inspire more thinking with the extensive documents collected on modern Anna Zhao anna.whizh@yahoo.com A DESIGN and public art exhibition is now being held at four museums in the city to showcase brilliant modern Chinese designs and the development of modern designs in China. Exploring the theme of “Design and Social Responsibility,” the China Design Exhibition and Public Art Thematic Exhibition boasts over 200 designs displayed at the four venues. The Guan Shanyue Art Museum in Futian District, the main venue of the exhibition, is displaying leading designs in various fields, ranging from fashion, furniture, medical equipment, architectural and environment design to the design of social communities. The Shenzhen Industrial Museum, near Civic Center, also in Futian, is displaying landmark industrial designs from the founding of the People’s Republic of China to the end of the last century in chronological order. The OCT Art and Design Gallery in Nanshan District is sharing documents and illustrations on the development of public art in Chinese cities over the past 65 years. The EPC Art and Culture Center, a few meters away from the OCT Art Gallery, is housing an array of more than 20 pieces of public art designs created during the past five years, including urban landscapes, sculptures and cultural facilities. Designs housed at the Guan Shanyue Art Museum represent the latest achievements in various fields of study. A prominent feature of those designs is their dedication to humanistic concerns. An eye-catching item in the museum’s central hall is a landscape design model of Zhouzhuang, a village renowned for its gardens and water scenery in Suzhou, eastern China’s Jiangsu Province. Named “Sponge City,” the design exemplifies how natural water resources can best serve public water needs while maintaining local ecology. A design of a basement community in Beijing, with pictures and models, speaks about how better designs have helped basement residents improve their living spaces. The designers said they visited thousands of people who live in basements to learn from their point of view in order to “realize a harmonious living space for the basement community.” A model of a courtyard house plugin design demonstrates how young designers have employed modern technology to allow residents living in hutongs, old-style housing with narrow streets in Beijing, to make full use of their limited public space. “Many hutongs have hundreds of years of history — making it hard to renovate a single unit, and there are age-old fights over public spaces among residents living inside. We came up with various solutions, from energy consumption to water treatment. For example, adding a foldable glass roof to a house upgrades the living space without tearing anything down,” a designer of the project said. Other designs, such as clothing that can protect an elderly person in a fall, a senior nursing program by real estate developer Vanke and a rural cultural hall redesign, offer interesting insight into how designs can improve quality of life. Exhibits in the Shenzhen Industrial Museum are reminiscent of life in the 1960s to 80s, when China’s national design was in its fledgling stage. The collection, including China’s first hand tractor, an old-styled radio, an electric fan, a sewing machine, a camera, watches and more, is called “precious” by its curator since the items were so hard to find. “We present these old objects to our visitors here in Shenzhen not to take pride from our own design, but to encourage more reflection on how to create better designs in the future in a climate of global exchange,” said Shen Yu, an exhibition curator. Hang Jian, curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the China Academy of Art, said that the exhibition undertakes the mission of culture transmission and aims to orient future designs in the direction of serving society and people — marking a major difference from other design exhibitions that focus on industry promotion. Speaking about designers’ responsibilities, Hang said a broad range of meanings should be incorporated into the concept, such as designers’ concerns for users, full use of design materials, human society’s sustainable development, and even humanity’s concern for history and lifestyle by refurbishing old buildings. Xu Ping, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said he hopes the exhibition would inspire more thinking with the extensive documents collected on modern Chinese design presented free to the public. “As scholars on design, we keep thinking about what drives our design forward and the future of design. We hope to find answers to our questions by examining history. In the past, more attention was given to Western design, but our own design was somewhat neglected. So the exhibition of historical design documents may be a good way to find answers,” Xu said. Wang Zhong, president of urban design school of Central Academy of Fine Arts, said public art is not using art as a decoration — it’s creating space, activates spaces. Public art needs to be closely associated with urban history, its residents and society. The exhibition runs through March 13.Venues Guan Shanyue Art Museum Add: 6026 Hongli Road, Futian District Metro: Longhua Line, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B OCT Art and Design Gallery Add: Overseas Chinese Town, 9009 Shennan Boulevard, Nanshan District (深南大道9009号华侨城华·美术馆) Metro: Luobao Line, OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit C Shenzhen Industrial Museum Add: Block B, 2/F, Civic Center, Fuzhong Road 3, Futian District (福田区福中三路市民中心B区黄塔2楼) Metro: Longhua or Longgang Line, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B The OCT Art & Design Gallery EPC Art and Culture Center Overseas Chinese Town, 9005 Shennan Boulevard, Nanshan District (深南大道9005号华侨城EPC 公共艺术中心) Metro: Luobao Line, OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit DChinese design presented free to the public. “As scholars on design, we keep thinking about what drives our design forward and the future of design. We hope to find answers to our questions by examining history. In the past, more attention was given to Western design, but our own design was somewhat neglected. So the exhibition of historical design documents may be a good way to find answers,” Xu said. Wang Zhong, president of urban design school of Central Academy of Fine Arts, said public art is not using art as a decoration — it’s creating space, activates spaces. Public art needs to be closely associated with urban history, its residents and society. The exhibition runs through March 13. Venues Guan Shanyue Art Museum Add: 6026 Hongli Road, Futian District Metro: Longhua Line, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B OCT Art and Design Gallery Add: Overseas Chinese Town, 9009 Shennan Boulevard, Nanshan District (深南大道9009号华侨城华·美术馆) Metro: Luobao Line, OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit C Shenzhen Industrial Museum Add: Block B, 2/F, Civic Center, Fuzhong Road 3, Futian District (福田区福中三路市民中心B区黄塔2楼) Metro: Longhua or Longgang Line, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B The OCT Art & Design Gallery EPC Art and Culture Center Overseas Chinese Town, 9005 Shennan Boulevard, Nanshan District (深南大道9005号华侨城EPC 公共艺术中心) Metro: Luobao Line, OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit D | 