Highlights from Beijing Design Week 2011
One of the back alleys of 751 D-Park - the main hub of the inaugural Beijing Design Week. A striking cluster of disused boiler towers, railroad tracks and chimneys, it once served as a gas power plant, and has become the go-to location for creative events in the city
751 D-Park
’Urban Body’, built out of shipping pallets by students from Tsinghua University, set against the park’s industrial backdrop
751 D-Park
Poster by Goddur, a professor of graphic design at the Iceland Academy of Arts, presented by the Embassy of Iceland
751 D-Park
Another poster by Goddur, who studied fine art alongside Fluxus artists Dieter Roth and Hermann Nitsch
751 D-Park
’Breathing Cloud’ by Dorette Sturm, part of the Liberation of Light exhibition at the Dutch Design Generator
751 D-Park
’Intimacy’, a dress by Studio Roosegaarde, made out of smart e-foils that turns opaque on close contact
751 D-Park
’Strand bicycle’ by Tjeerd Veenhoven is an ’ordinary’ carbon fibre bike, exhibited in the ’Connecting Concepts’ show at the Dutch Design Generator
751 D-Park
Modular yin and yang-inspired seating by Harrison Liu
751 D-Park
Lucite table with traditional treatment, by Zhou Qi Yue
751 D-Park
Shelving unit by Song Tao
751 D-Park
Angular chair by Song Tao
751 D-Park
Experimentations in plastic, by Zi Zao She
Across town, Beijing Design Week also orchestrated a series of pop-up shops, eateries and exhibitions in Dashilar Alley - one of the city’s many hutongs, emphasising the value of these heritage areas to locals and visitors alike. Pictured here is Wonderwater, a temporary restaurant conceived by Helsinki Design Week that factors in the water footprint of its dishes
Dashilar Alley
Assorted tripe stew being prepared at Wonderwater
Dashilar Alley
Ready to break into our our sterilised cups and plates wrapped in plastic
Dashilar Alley
The courtyard within Ab Rogers’ ’A day in the life of Ernesto Bones’ - an exhibition based on the surrealist game ’Exquisite Corpse’ created by creatives including Heston Blumenthal and Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic
Dashilar Alley
The poster for Ab Rogers’ fictional ’Ernesto Bones’ exhibition
Dashilar Alley
Sunglasses on offer at the Wu Hao pop-up boutique. The holistic concept store is a result of Isabelle Pascal’s fascination with Chinese philosophy’s ’five elements’
Dashilar Alley
Each room in the pop-up shop is themed according to the four seasons, like this one, which depicts Autumn...
Dashilar Alley
... and this ’Winter’ room
Dashilar Alley
Tea table, made out of crates, with built in ceramic heater, electric water outlet and water collecting tank, by Nai Han Li
Dashilar Alley
Wu Hao’s in-store teahouse, operated by Tranquil Tuesdays that specialises in unscented and unblended Chinese teas
Dashilar Alley
Tins of Tranquil Tuesdays’ tea
Dashilar Alley
The five varieties of Chinese teas: Pu-Er, white, oolong, green and black
Dashilar Alley
A tea cabinet at Wu Hao
Dashilar Alley
’M2B’ kinetic sculpture by Niko de la Faye, partly inspired by the overloaded bicycles of local junk collectors
Dashilar Alley
Vintage notebooks and ephemera at Lost & Found’s pop-up
Dashilar Alley
The nostalgic interior at the Lost & Found pop-up
Dashilar Alley
Tianjin iron pipe chair, part of Lost & Found’s new furniture collection, inspired by ubiquitous Chinese furniture from the 1950s and 1960s
Dashilar Alley
The furniture boutique, which is based in Guozijian street, also reinvigorating old Chinese trinkets to give them a modern bent, like this enamel mug
Dashilar Alley
A deconstruction of Lost & Found’s Danwei chair - a modern take on the traditional Ming Dynasty chair, known for the way that it is held together without the aid of glue, nail or screw
Dashilar Alley
Limited edition Teasilk collection by avant-garde fashion label Ruxi. The all-natural capsule collection - made from silk and linen - was dyed with traditional methods, such as using mud and root vegetables
Dashilar Alley
Bar, with wine cooler, ice-maker, built-in sink and more, by Nai Han Li
Liang Dian
Party decorations at the opening of Liang Dian, Beijing’s first design centre. Located in an ex-computer assembly factory, the renovated 8-storey building provides studio office space and a gallery for a community of architects, lighting designers and young talent
Liang Dian
A clothes scrubbing board from ’Chinese Stuff’
Liang Dian
Chest of drawers by Fnji
Liang Dian
Low TV cabinet, by Fnji
Liang Dian
Round backed arm chair by Fnji
Liang Dian
’Poem of Clouds’ seating by Chaoyang-based OrganicER
Showcase of Chinese design at the China Shijitan Contemporary Art Center, which opened earlier this year
China Shijitan Contemporary Art Center
The opening ceremony at Shijitan
China Shijitan Contemporary Art Center
Ash wood arm chair, by Zhu Xiao Jie
China Shijitan Contemporary Art Center
Black walnut desk, by Hou Zheng Guang
China Shijitan Contemporary Art Center
Lover chair, in oak, by Sun Yun
China Shijitan Contemporary Art Center
Fellowship chairs, by Sun Yun