14 October 2009
Press release
Opening Dutch Design Works
Shanghai International Creative Industry Week
Shanghai International Creative Industry Week
Dutch Design Works is a multi-disciplinary programme of events that will take place during Shanghai International Creative Industry Week (SICIW) from 15 until 21 October 2009. The opening takes place on Thursday 15 October at 16.00 hours.
Dutch Design Works presents the work of Dutch designers in the fields of architecture, fashion, graphic and product design, through a varied programme of exhibitions, fashion show, lectures, meetings and other activities.
So what is Dutch Design and why does it work?
Dutch Design
Dutch designers combine radical aesthetics with a strong social conscience, technological innovation with careful craftsmanship, experiment with pragmatism and analysis with determination. They are open and independent thinkers, conceptually strong, with a structured way of working, informal and sober, practical and reliable. They combine a critical and individualist mentality with a willingness to collaborate and the ability to convince others.
This characterisation applies equally to Dutch architects, graphic designers, product designers and fashion designers. They are qualities that originate from the Dutch national character, shaped by centuries of necessary collaboration and technological innovation in creating and sustaining new land where once there was water. Indeed, after God created the world, the Dutch created the Netherlands, half of which is man-made.
Architecture & Public Space
An important part of the Dutch Design Works programme is the Architecture & Public Space exhibition in the Dutch pavilion (building 4) that showcases the work of 15 prominent Dutch architecture and design practices. In the context of China’s explosive urbanisation, the design of public space has become a highly topical issue.
The Netherlands have a long-standing tradition in the design of public space, and play a leading role internationally with their careful and programmatic approach. The different design disciplines complement each other here: urban designers work closely together with architects, product designers, artists and landscape architects, and all of them interact with citizens, city governments and developers in the process of city making.
Dutch top designers in Shanghai
The following architecture companies are participating: AIM-Achitecture,, Alliance-NL (Tekton Architects, Archipelontwerpers, OKRA Landscape Architects), Jo Coenen & Co Architects, KCAP Architects&Planners, KOW Architecture, KuiperCompagnons, MVRDV, NITA Design Group, NL Architects, SeARCH, UNStudio, VenhoevenCS Architects, Wiel Arets Architects, XML Architecture Research Urbanism, and industrial design agency npk design.
Dutch Day
The special Dutch Day on 17 October starts off with the day-long Architecture and Public Space conference, in which Chinese and Dutch urban designers and architects will enter into dialogue about the design of contemporary urban space: in a rapidly urbanizing and globalizing world, how can cities create a public environment that is economically, culturally and ecologically sustainable, and that provides a safe and open platform for the daily activities and interactions of their citizens?
The RedLight Fashion Amsterdam Show, presenting the work of talented young Dutch fashion designers, follows the conference, while the Digital Disco Dialogue party, which involves an interchange between Chinese and Dutch veejays and deejays, concludes the day.
Launch of the Dutch Design WorkSpace
The Dutch Design WorkSpace will be launched during the SICIW. Dutch companies working within the fields of design, fashion and architecture will be offered support through this Dutch Design WorkSpace. Special assistance will be given to designers who aim to enter the Chinese market: the programme will accompany them in their first steps in this new and challenging environment. The programme will also support Chinese designers who are interested in developing a closer relationship with the Netherlands.
This long-term support programme is initiated by the Dutch Design Fashion Architecture Programme, in close collaboration with the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Shanghai, the Shanghai Creative Industry Centre, FAR Architecture & Design Center and other local partners. The official signing ceremony between the Chinese and Dutch partners will take place on Saturday 17 October, at 17.00 hours at 800Show, Dutch Design Works pavilion (building 4).
Dutch Design Lounge and educational workshops
The Dutch Design Lounge welcomes professionals and the general audience and functions as the central information hub of Dutch Design Works. Throughout the week, Dutch participants will give lectures about their work and take part in a varied programme of matchmaking and networking activities.
The Dutch pavilion also hosts the presentation of two educational workshops involving students from Dutch and Chinese design schools, initiated by the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. The students will explore new trajectories for the shared Sino-Dutch ceramic tradition of ‘Delft Blue’ and create proposals for the public space of the Chongming Eco-Island near Shanghai.
Elsewhere in the city
The exhibition Social Energy, Contemporary Communication Design From the Netherlands presents 11 prominent graphic designers and design agencies from the Netherlands. The show’s title reflects the Chinese curators’ view on Dutch graphic design as a powerful form of social production, involving both the social concern of the individual designer and the characteristics of Dutch society. The Social Energy conference with Dutch and Chinese graphic designers will take place on Sunday 18 October.
Partners
The Dutch Design Fashion Architecture – or DutchDFA – Programme, which runs from 2009 through 2012, aims to strengthen the international position of the three Dutch creative disciplines on a long-term basis by joining forces within the field. To realise the Dutch Design Works programme for 2009, DutchDFA has worked closely with the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Shanghai, the Shanghai Creative Industry Centre, FAR Architecture & Design Center who together were responsible for the presentations of Dutch design at SICIW in the four previous years.
End of press release
Note for editors: not for publication.
For more information on Dutch participation and interwiews, please contact: Clarisse Stulp, communications manager Dutch Design Works (Shanghai), +86 13817343080, clarissestulp@gmail.com or Carlie Janszen, communications manager DutchDFA, +31 646218988, cjanszen@dutchdfa.nl.
See also www.dutchdesignworks.cn or www.dutchdfa.nl
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