Private Session - Check-in


Today's session is reserved for professionals and is by invitation-only. International and local guests spend an afternoon together to engage in discussion on design trends, how to enable more creative collaborations between East and West. If you would like to attend, kindly register and await approval from the organizer.

Designer Showcase

International & local designers showcase work and discuss the challenges as well as the opportunities for innovation they have encountered when engaging in cross-cultural projects. Host / Maurice Li & Yoko Choy, Co-founders, Collective Contemporist Speaker / Carolina Maggio, International Creative Director, Based Upon Speaker / Lonneke Gordijn, Co-founder, Studio Drift

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  Carolina Maggio

  Based Upon

  International Representative

  Based Upon is an artist. Guided by twin brothers Ian and Richard Abell, Based Upon travels the world to gather narratives, memories, textures & histories.
 in the London studio, these grow into sculptural works which look at notions of wholeness and separation, the natural and the manmade. These works tell stories: of Based Upon’s own experiences or those of its clients. Each Based Upon work carries the intention of its maker; every piece resonating with the personal or physical landscapes from which it was conceived.
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  Lonneke Gordijn

  Studio Drift

  Co-Founder

  Studio Drift was founded in 2007 by Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta. Their passion for nature, science fiction and technology blends in their site-specific installations and interactive sculptures. To translate their concepts into a final result they always encouraging their partners to push the boundaries of technology. Installations by Studio Drift are exhibited throughout the world and are represented in many international collections. The exhibition Studio Drift: Coded Nature was held earlier this year at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherland, where the studio is based. it was the duo’s first solo exhibition concluding the first ten years of their collaboration and also a preview to the next chapter to come.
• 

  Maurice Li

  Collective Contemporist

  Co-Founder

  Originally from San Francisco with roots in Hong Kong, Maurice is a brand architect, business strategist, product designer, content curator and producer. He has served as a brand director at an international 4A advertising firm, a producer and experience designer for mobile game studio, and holds an MBA from Tsinghua University where he is currently an Alumni Mentor.  He is most recently one of the founding partners of CHAO - an independent lifestyle, design & hospitality management company based in Beijing - where he led the brand building, content and experience design efforts. He is also an active public speaker, panelist, media contributor and a guest lecturer at the Beijing Hospitality Institute. Maurice is currently based in Beijing.
• 

  Yoko Choy

  Collective Contemporist

  Co-Founder

  Currently based in Hong Kong and Amsterdam, Yoko Choy is an acclaimed design and lifestyle writer and consultant, who advises fairs, events, brands and creatives. Her work to date has been published in more than 20 international titles; she is the China Editor for Wallpaper* magazine (global edition) as well as a writer for Chinese and international publications including Monocle, Hong Kong Economic Journal and online platform Dezeen. Choy has worked for Art Basel on its launch in Hong Kong, curated exhibitions for Dover Street Market in Beijing, managed Beijing Design Week‘s international communications strategy and is currently consulting MARIOTESTINO+’s activities in Asia.

Roundtable

Professionals from the creative, design, art, media & business community discuss international creative collaboration and opportunities to leverage. Topic: Exploring the Future of Spaces: A cross-cultural, cross-boundary and cross-disciplinary中 future; the relationship among people, space and material life.  中 Host / Maurice Li & Yoko Choy, Co-founders, Collective Contemporist中 Speaker / Ben Hobson, Studio Director, Dezeen 中 Speaker / Sadao Tsuchiya, Founder, Urban Lifestyle Lab Speaker / ZHANG Leizhong, Partner & Chief Creative Director, EICO  Speaker / LIU Linian, ADCC Deputy Chairman, Interior Designer Speaker / LI Ximi, Founder, Urbancraft

• 

  Ben Hobson

  Dezeen

  Studio Director

  Ben Hobson leads Dezeen's in-house creative agency, which produces all of Dezeen's original video content as well as delivering projects as diverse as print publications, exhibitions, talks and events for prestigious clients around the world. His team has won a host of awards, including beating media giants the Guardian, CNN, Vice and Google to a prestigious Webby Award in 2015.
• 

  Carolina Maggio

  Based Upon

  International Representative

  Based Upon is an artist. Guided by twin brothers Ian and Richard Abell, Based Upon travels the world to gather narratives, memories, textures & histories.
 in the London studio, these grow into sculptural works which look at notions of wholeness and separation, the natural and the manmade. These works tell stories: of Based Upon’s own experiences or those of its clients. Each Based Upon work carries the intention of its maker; every piece resonating with the personal or physical landscapes from which it was conceived.
• 

  Lonneke Gordijn

  Studio Drift

  Co-Founder

  Studio Drift was founded in 2007 by Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta. Their passion for nature, science fiction and technology blends in their site-specific installations and interactive sculptures. To translate their concepts into a final result they always encouraging their partners to push the boundaries of technology. Installations by Studio Drift are exhibited throughout the world and are represented in many international collections. The exhibition Studio Drift: Coded Nature was held earlier this year at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherland, where the studio is based. it was the duo’s first solo exhibition concluding the first ten years of their collaboration and also a preview to the next chapter to come.
• 

  Liu Linian

  ADCC

  Deputy Chairman

  Director, Actor and Designer
• 

  Sadao Tsuchiya

  Urban Lifestyle Lab

  Founder

  Born in Tokyo. 1985 graduated from Nihon University and received scholarship from the Italian government to study in Rome. Started to work in construction company as architect back in中 Japan in 1994. Joined MUJI as a director in 2004 and became a board member in 2007. In 2008, Tsuchiya started his own consultancy SADAO Co.ltd, conducting research and product development on life through online research and door-to-door survey. Tsuchiya has so far offered comprehensive support to a number of various enterprises such as developers and home builders in Japan concerning planning, design, sales, advertisement and communication. In 2010, Tsuchiya established HOUSE VISION project together with Kenya Hara, and have been engaged in the operation as a facilitator since then. At present, Tsuchiya is positively conducting establishment of research groups in many areas in Asia.
• 

  ZHANG Leizhong

  EICO

  Partner & Chief Creative Director

  EICO design has been providing user interface design services for many famous IT domestic, and international clients, telecom operator and internet company. With our pool of talented and experienced designers, we provide brand centric user interface design for mobile, desktop, web and consumer electronics platforms. We adopt a holistic design approach to ensure our customers get the best in user experience, interaction, visual, and branding, from conceptualisation to productisation. ZHANG Leizhong, EICO Partner and Chief Creative Director. More than 15 years product and user experience design experience, with a master degree in design from the University of New South Wales, Australia, a number of international design patents and published professional papers at the International Human-Computer Interaction Research Conference. He has worked中 for Sina, eLong, Microsoft, frog, etc. Mainly engaged in innovation strategies, product design and user research services in the fields of Internet, medical health, consumer electronics, retail,中 smart home appliances, travel and other fields.
• 

  LI Ximi

  Urbancraft

  Founder

  URBANCRAFT is a contemporary design brand founded by Ximi Li. URBANCRAFT seeks to discover and integrate unique cultural elements of different regions around the world into its works. Ximi Li holds a BA in Industrial design from China Academy of Art, and a MA in Furniture Design from Milano Politecnico. He has worked for renowned designers, including Andrea Branzi, Luca Trazzi and Neri & Hu.
• 

  Maurice Li

  Collective Contemporist

  Co-Founder

  Originally from San Francisco with roots in Hong Kong, Maurice is a brand architect, business strategist, product designer, content curator and producer. He has served as a brand director at an international 4A advertising firm, a producer and experience designer for mobile game studio, and holds an MBA from Tsinghua University where he is currently an Alumni Mentor.  He is most recently one of the founding partners of CHAO - an independent lifestyle, design & hospitality management company based in Beijing - where he led the brand building, content and experience design efforts. He is also an active public speaker, panelist, media contributor and a guest lecturer at the Beijing Hospitality Institute. Maurice is currently based in Beijing.

Drinks & Live Music Performance

Featuring a collaboration between UK artist Abi Wade and Beijing native Fishdoll, enjoy inspiring music and friendly drinks to wind down from the first day.

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  Fishdoll

  N/A

  Independent electronic music producer and singer

  Fishdoll is an independent electronic music producer and singer born in Beijing. She’s graduated from the Department of Music, Communication University of China. She began to study violin at the age of give, and went to New York's the New School for Contemporary Music and Jazz to study jazz. She was exposed to electronic music production and began to use software creates unique music that combines jazz and abstract electronics. In the early 2018, her debut album Noonsense was released on the New York label Paxico Records. The album was voted "Best New Electronic Album" by Bandcamp Music and evaluated "it is an extraordinary genius."
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  Abi Wade

  N/A

  Musician

  Abi is a cellist. She writes music in various locations of her old hometown of Brighton, from the living room of her seafront apartment to the dark belly of Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar. “The cello is so versatile, and I love to explore those many characteristics using various techniques both traditional and unique, it’s such an emotive instrument and has a very human tone.” She said. Using cello, vocals, orchestral arrangements, choral ensembles, location samples, synths and piano, Abi Wade explores human nature through real and abstracted personas on her debut album ‘Beautifully Astray’. She has toured the Europe with Patrick Wolf, played shows with the likes of CocoRosie, Polica, Michael Kiwanuka, Other Lives and festivals such as End of The Road, Cambridge Folk Festival and Wilderness.

Social Drinks

Need we say more?

Public Session - Sign in

Series of Events to Inspire a Community of Design Lovers 
We extend the community of audience members to a wider selection of media members, professional creatives and design enthusiasts.

Dezeen "China Design Power" Series Keynote

A Global Outlook on China’s Future of Design 
A new China content series on Dezeen will be launched by the end of this year. The idea is to explore architecture and design in China and show that China is well on its way to being a global design power – and is doing so on its own terms. 

• 

  Ben Hobson

  Dezeen

  Studio Director

  Ben Hobson leads Dezeen's in-house creative agency, which produces all of Dezeen's original video content as well as delivering projects as diverse as print publications, exhibitions, talks and events for prestigious clients around the world. His team has won a host of awards, including beating media giants the Guardian, CNN, Vice and Google to a prestigious Webby Award in 2015.
• 

  Yoko Choy

  Collective Contemporist

  Co-Founder

  Currently based in Hong Kong and Amsterdam, Yoko Choy is an acclaimed design and lifestyle writer and consultant, who advises fairs, events, brands and creatives. Her work to date has been published in more than 20 international titles; she is the China Editor for Wallpaper* magazine (global edition) as well as a writer for Chinese and international publications including Monocle, Hong Kong Economic Journal and online platform Dezeen. Choy has worked for Art Basel on its launch in Hong Kong, curated exhibitions for Dover Street Market in Beijing, managed Beijing Design Week‘s international communications strategy and is currently consulting MARIOTESTINO+’s activities in Asia.

Dezeen Film Screening: “Elevation”

This documentary by Dezeen explores how drones will transform cities, revolutionising how people travel and how buildings look and are constructed.

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  Ben Hobson

  Dezeen

  Studio Director

  Ben Hobson leads Dezeen's in-house creative agency, which produces all of Dezeen's original video content as well as delivering projects as diverse as print publications, exhibitions, talks and events for prestigious clients around the world. His team has won a host of awards, including beating media giants the Guardian, CNN, Vice and Google to a prestigious Webby Award in 2015.

Dezeen Panel Discussion

Topic / A global look on China’s future of design, the talk explores architecture and design in China and show that China is well on its way to being a global design power – and is doing so 
on its own terms. Host / Ben Hobson - Studio Director, Dezeen Speaker / QIAO Yan, CEO, DJI studio Speaker / XU Hao, Design Director, NIO Speaker / ZANG Feng and HE Zhe, Co-founders People’s Architecture Office  Speaker / HUANG Wenjing, Co-founder, OPEN Architecture 

• 

  Ben Hobson

  Dezeen

  Studio Director

  Ben Hobson leads Dezeen's in-house creative agency, which produces all of Dezeen's original video content as well as delivering projects as diverse as print publications, exhibitions, talks and events for prestigious clients around the world. His team has won a host of awards, including beating media giants the Guardian, CNN, Vice and Google to a prestigious Webby Award in 2015.
• 

  Qiao Yan

  DJI Studio

  CEO

  DJI Studio is DJI’s Global Aerial Cinematography Team. We provide professional aerial production services for clients. Founded in 2014, it is located in Beijing, focusing on the filming and production of documentaries, advertisements and promotional films, as well as training services for aerial photography of drones. At present, the studio has established close cooperative relations with famous Chinese film companies, famous directors such as Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen, Han Han, etc., as well as producers and photographers. The studio has participated in and completed the filming and production of more than 20 films. The studio has equipment and technical support in more than 50 countries and regions around the world, and is one of the most professional commercial aerial photography brands in the world.
• 

  Xu Hao

  NIO

  Design Director

  The future is in smart, electric and autonomous vehicles, and we aim to lead the way. Our Chinese name, Weilai, means Blue Sky Coming and this is represented in our symbol. The top is about the sky, openness, vision, the future. The bottom part is about the earth, direction, action and forward momentum. Blue Sky Coming is our guiding philosophy and stands for our commitment to a brighter tomorrow. The automotive industry is on the cusp of profound change. We believe it isn’t just products and technology that must change; it is how people use these products, and their entire ownership experience. We want you to feel positive again about owning a car. XU Hao is a registered architect in China, and the United States, and a member of the American Institute of Registered Architects. Xu Wei graduated from Tianjin University and the University of Virginia with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Architecture. He has worked in domestic and foreign design companies such as Beijing Planning Institute, Shanghai Rixing Design, American Shalom Baranes Associates, RTKL, MulvannyG2, Foster+Partners. Familiar with architectural design practices at home and abroad. Currently, he holds the position of design director at the NIO Automobile User Center.
• 

  ZANG Feng

  People’s Architecture Office

  Co-founder

  Beijing-based People's Architecture Office (PAO) / People's Industrial Design Office (PIDO) was founded by He Zhe, James Shen and Zang Feng in 2010, and consists of a multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, product designers and urbanists. With the belief that design is for the masses the studio focuses on social impact through design. PAO is the first architecture practice in Asia certified as a B-Corporation and serves as a model for social entrepreneurship. The office is located in an historic courtyard house in the center of Beijing and functions as a laboratory for observation, testing, and building; producing work that has been honored with multiple Architizer A+ Awards and Red Dot Awards and the World Architecture Festival Award. The studio’s works have been shown at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Rotterdam International Architecture Biennale, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and has been exhibited in cities including New York, London, Milan, Seoul, and Hong Kong. Originally from Jinhua, China, HE Zhe is a Registered Architect in China. He has a Bachelor in Architecture and received his Master of Urbanism from Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology. ZANG Feng is Principal and Founding Partner of PAO/PIDO. Originally from Lanzhou, China. A registered Architect in China. He has a Bachelor in Architecture and received his Master of Architecture from the Graduate Center of Architecture, Peking University.
• 

  He Zhe

  People's Architecture Office

  Co-founder

  Beijing-based People's Architecture Office (PAO) / People's Industrial Design (PIDO) was founded by He Zhe, James Shen and Zang Feng in 2010, and consists of a multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, product designers and urbanists. With the belief that design is for the masses the studio focuses on social impact through design. PAO is the first architecture practice in Asia certified as a B-Corporation and serves as a model for social entrepreneurship. The office is located in an historic courtyard house in the center of Beijing and functions as a laboratory for observation, testing, and building; producing work that has been honored with multiple Architizer A+ Awards and Red Dot Awards and the World Architecture Festival Award. The studio’s works have been shown at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Rotterdam International Architecture Biennale, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and has been exhibited in cities including New York, London, Milan, Seoul, and Hong Kong. Originally from Jinhua, China, HE Zhe is a Registered Architect in China. He has a Bachelor in Architecture and received his Master of Urbanism from Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology.
• 

  Huang Wenjing

  OPEN Architecture 

  Co-founder

  OPEN was founded by LI Hu and HUANG Wenjing in New York City. It established its Beijing office in 2008. Some built and ongoing projects by OPEN include: the Gehua Youth and Cultural Center, Garden School/Beijing No.4 High School Fangshan Campus, Tsinghua Ocean Center, Pingshan Performing Arts Center, Tank Shanghai, Dune Art Museum, and Chapel of Sound. OPEN has been widely recognized for its innovative work. Recent awards the firm received include the 2018 AIA Education Facility Design Award of Excellence, 2018 Civic Trust Awards, 2017 Iconic Awards Best of Best, 2016 Interior Design’s Best of Year, 2015 AIANY Design Award, 2015 London Design Museum’s Design of the Year Nomination, and the Winning Prize of WA Awards for Chinese Architecture, among many others. OPEN has been invited to participate in many important international exhibitions, including “The Soul of the City” in Verona Italy in 2017, the Chinese pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2014, and the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015. HUANG received her B. Arch. from Tsinghua University in Beijing in 1996 and her M. Arch. from Princeton University in 1999. She is a licensed architect of New York State and a member of the AIA. Prior to OPEN, HUANG was a senior designer and associate at the New York-based firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (formerly I.M. Pei Architects). Besides teaching at Tsinghua University, she has also been a visiting assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong and a senior editor of World Architecture magazine from 2006 to 2007.

Rural Retreats - Exploring the Middle Ground between Modernization and Tradition

Presented in association with Design Hotels, this discussion features a panel of local as well as international design experts to explore the increasingly important future outlook of rural design in China.

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  Jinou Park

  DESIGN HOTELS

  VP, Asia Pacific

  Jinou brings more than 20 years of experience in leading global brands. He started his career in the hospitality industry working for Intercontinental Hotels in the US HQ growing through the ranks of real estate finance and market planning before moving to Singapore as APAC Regional Director of Distribution Marketing and then onto Hilton as Area Director of Revenue Management & Distribution, M.E. & APAC. Design Hotels represents and markets a hand-selected collection of privately owned and operated hotels—each a wholly unique creative expression—in hundreds of destinations around the globe, from world capitals and exclusive mountaintops to hidden beaches, off-the-beaten-path escapes, and beyond. They also bring together an engaged Community of followers who seek out travel inspirations and Original Experiences.
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  Li HUA

  Trace Architecture Office

  Founder

  TAO (Trace Architecture Office), one of the most active and influential architectural firms in China’s contemporary architecture field, was founded by architect HUA Li In 2009, and is based in Beijing. Being critical at contemporary architecture as an obsession to fashionable forms in media driven globalized consumerism, TAO visions architecture as an evolving organism, being an inseparable whole with its environment, rather than just a formal object. With most projects positioned in particular cultural and natural settings in China, TAO explore the essence of place; make architecture deeply rooted in its cultural and environmental context with respect of local condition. The sense of place, response to climate, efficient use of local resource, site-responsive construction method, such issues are always explored in every TAO project responding to its specific situation. TAO’s key works include: Museum of Handcraft Paper (2010), XiaoQuan Elementary School (2010), Wuyishan Bamboo Raft Factory (2013), Forest Building (2014), Split Courtyard House (2015), and TiensTiens Café (2016). TAO has won several important architectural awards including ARCASIA Award, shortlisted in Aga Kahn Award 2013, Architectural Record GDGB Award, China Architecture Media Award and WA Award, and TAO was listed in Design Vanguard 2012 by Architectural Record Magazine. TAO’s works have been exhibited in Venice, Vienna, Berlin and New York, and have been widely published internationally.
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  Christian Taeubert

  CLOU Architects

  Director

  CLOU is a Beijing based team of architects practicing urbanism, architecture, and interior design. Established in 2005 as the Beijing office of Spark Architects the office is responsible for many emblematic projects like the regeneration of Clarke Quay, Raffles City Beijing, Sino Ocean’s Jing Mian Xin Cheng tower, and the 220m Shenzhen 1979 tower. CLOU’s multi-national collective of architects is currently working on a diverse range of projects from large-scale mixed-use complexes to community hubs, Kindergartens, Jewelry Store Interiors, and converting a disused runway into a park. CLOU is led by three Directors Jan F. Clostermann, Christian Taeubert and Jianyun Wu, and two Associates Sofia David and Li Lin. With his full attention to detail and ability to work within the given budget Christian manages CLOU’s project delivery. He has more than 15 years of experience as a project architect and 中designer. Christian compliments his work as an architect with the knowledge of a trained carpenter.