interview | China Design Hub

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Meet Alex Lim

Alex Lim’s career spans over 18 years across Singapore and China. He was ranked Asia’s Top 10 Creatives by Media and voted one of the 20 Hottest Creatives in the region by Campaign Brief Asia 2003.

Alex had stints at Wunderman, BBH, BBDO, Leo Burnett and has won over 100 major awards including The D&AD, One Show, Cannes Lions, Clio, ADC, New York Festivals, Spikes, London International and AdFest.

Some of Alex’s works include The Levi’s 501 Re-cut for women where it made the No.1 Gunn Report and Pizza Hut home delivery campaign where it was the 8th most awarded in the world.

Alex is currently the creative lead for EnergyBBDO in China where it first opened its doors to Asia in 2011. Operating as an Asian Hub for the SC Johnson brands across China and 12 other markets, concurrently looking after China’s Pepsi Co. brands like 7-up, Mountain Dew and Mirinda.
Via www.dandad.org

Xiao Wen x Dana Lixenberg

China’s Quirky Star Model and Marc Jacobs Muse Disrobes After Fashion Week

Bare-faced and beguiling, current fashion world darling Xiao Wen Ju lets her guard down for renowned Dutch photographer Dana Lixenberg, unwinding after a gruelling Fashion Week schedule of fittings and shows in this series of intimate and raw portraits.

“It’s always a bit challenging to do a natural portrait of a model,” says Lixenberg, who shot Ju in Manhattan’s Lafayette House hotel. “Somehow youth and beauty dominate, so it almost helped that she was exhausted and had come from a rehearsal.”

Twenty-year-old Xiao Wen, who hails from the ancient city of Xi’an in China, signed with IMG in 2010 and quickly climbed the ranks both in her home country and internationally, featuring on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar China that May as well as walking for designers including Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Prada the following year, ultimately scoring Marc Jacobs’ Spring campaign in 2012.

“There’s a playful element to her,” says Lixenberg, who has shot for publications including The New Yorker, Newsweek and The New York Times Magazine and exhibited in solo shows at Amsterdam’s FOAM and the Nederlands Fotomuseum. “She looks like a little dancer: petite, almost Audrey Hepburnish and very slim and flexible like a kitten. She had a quiet charisma, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it popped up in film.”

Via www.nowness.com

China Is One Of The Most Exciting Places To Be An Architect Right Now

Founded by Ken Shuttleworth in 2004, Britain’s Make Architects has swiftly established itself as one of the UK’s leading architectural firms, working out of a global network of studios in London, Birmingham, Beijing and Hong Kong as well as registered offices in the Middle East. Engaging in a wide range of projects around the world, Make Architects designs everything from large-scale urban masterplans to private luxury residences.

Continue Reading →

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Gensler’s Chris Chan on the Sustainable Shanghai Tower

In 2008 Gensler broke ground on the sustainable Shanghai Tower in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. The tower is currently in construction and it’s one of three supertall buildings in Pudong, including the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. The elegant structure spirals up to the sky, and once it is completed in 2014 it will become the second tallest tower in the world — only second to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The 632 meter tall structure is a testament to both modern architecture and the potential of engineering, and it also sets a precedent for sustainable super structures. The tower will take the form of nine cylindrical buildings stacked atop each other, enclosed by layers of glass, and hosting public space for visitors including atriums, gardens, cafes, restaurants, retail space, a hotel, and 360-degree views of the city. The building will also include a rainwater recycling system and a series of wind turbines able to generate up to 350,000 kWh of electricity per year. But most notably, the tower’s glass façade was designed specifically to reduce wind loads on the building by 24%, which means that fewer construction materials are needed (including 25% less structural steel). We recently spoke to Gensler‘s Chris Chan, Design Director and member of the tower’s design team, who gave us some insight on what it has taken to get the Shanghai Tower built, and how Building Information Modeling (BIM) has played a crucial role from concept to construction. Jump ahead for our fascinating interview with Chris!

Via Inhabitat

“In the past, China hasn’t really respected design a whole lot. They’re known for copying and manufacturing. So does that mean you’re trying to change the culture of those you’re doing business with?”

Read the interview at Fast Company

China Design Hub featured on Dwell Asia Magazine

Dwell Asia did a short Q&A with me about China Design Hub. It’s been published in the current July/August issue. Continue Reading →

“As design plays an increasingly important role in shaping the growth for China, it is important to focus on the larger needs of China. With a population of 1.3 billion, it makes no business sense to only focus on premium.”

Download the PDF article at IDEO

Following her recent Chinese Brides exhibition in Beijing and a relaxing vacation in Morocco, Beijing-based fashion designer Guo Pei (郭培) is radiant, sporting a thick mane of glossy wine-red hair and looking right at home in a stunning Issey Miyake one-piece dress. Warm and humble, but with a firm tone of voice, Guo is now enjoying the fruits of her labor, with the success and international exposure of her Rose Studio label growing and her pieces finding fans in celebrities like Lady Gaga and Zhang Ziyi. With an innate passion for fashion, Guo has blazed her own path in the Chinese fashion world, developing a one-of-a-kind style that is often emulated but never truly replicated. As Hong Huang wrote this spring in her ChinaFile column for WWD, “If there is Haute Couture in China, it would have to be in the Rose Studio by Guo Pei. But it is nothing like any atelier you have seen in the West.”

Read the interview at Jing Daily

Interview with Furniture Designer Li Naihan

Unique furniture designer, Li Naihan, first appeared on Design China in October 2011 with her Crates series. Design China caught up with her this month to find out what she has been concocting more recently.

Read the interview at Design China