Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

PRESENTING a 12-day feast of design encompassing 49 activities, the 2019 Shenzhen Design Week will officially open tomorrow and run through April 30. The Shenzhen Global Design Award, with total prize money as high as 10 million yuan (US$1.49 million), will also unveil its winners tomorrow night.

According to the organizer, London will serve as the guest of honor at this year’s design week. A guest city exhibition, titled “Meet London Design,” will be held in Hall 6 of Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center from tomorrow to Monday.

As the most important event of Shenzhen Design Week, the guest city exhibition is a grand banquet for the visual senses and thoughts, showcasing the works of renowned designers and artists from London.

For instance, Nigel Coates, a famous architect and designer whose drawings and furniture designs have been collected by the Victoria and Albert Museum, will present part of his London apartment at the exhibition, enabling visitors an immersive experience of the designer’s home.

Another London-based architect, Vlad Tenu, will display an unknown installation that is to be completed by the designer and 10 volunteers. During the four-day exhibition, Tenu will continuously perfect the installation every day, so the finished installation will be presented only on the last day of the exhibition.

Meanwhile, the organizers have also set up London Day activities at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning for the weekends.

Ten famous designers, including Frank Peters, Peter Murray, Matthew Drinkwater and Nigel Coates, will give speeches and carry out thematic discussions on design. The London Day activities will be free and open to the public.

The Shenzhen Global Design Award has received a total of 2,581 entries from 30 countries and regions this year, and 91 pieces have entered the final, according to the organizer.

This year’s award is more diversified and inclusive. The award has expanded from only one category, namely, industrial design, to five categories including visual communication, industrial products, architectural design, interior design and fashion design.

The total prize money has also been increased from US$1 million to US$1.49 million. Each category will have one gold winner, three silver winners and five bronze winners. The gold winners will each receive a cash prize of 500,000 yuan, the silver winners 300,000 yuan and the bronze winners 100,000 yuan.

In order to emphasize designers’ social responsibility and echo the theme of this year’s design week, “Design for Sustainability,” the organizers specifically set up the “Special Award for Sustainable Development” with a prize of 500,000 yuan for entries from all design categories.

As an annual event, the 2019 Shenzhen Design Week is organized by the Shenzhen City of Design Promotion Association.