With more than 2,000 works of design, over 30 countries involved, more than 130 projects and 100 design landmarks open to the public, the eight-day Beijing Design Week will be the largest and most significant yet in the Chinese capital for the promotion of design.
The event from 26 September to 3 October promises to be a platform and meeting point for the international design community and is aimed at shifting international attention from 'Made in China' to 'Designed in China'.
The Design Week programme builds on this objective, asserting the role of design as a crucial one for China's growth and progress. It has commissioned landmark design installations from renowned international and local architects and designers across the city, from the industrial district of 751 to the ultra-modern Sanlitun area and the 'old Beijing' alleyways near Tiananmen Square.
An international design forum to discuss the establishment of a 'design cities' network will include the founder of the London Design Week Sir John Sorrell.
Jointly held with BJDW, the inaugural Beijing International Design Triennial will be one of the festival's core events. Held at the recently reopened National Museum of China, the Triennial will take the form of a thematic exhibition.
For this year's debut, the general theme will be 'Good Design'. Five exhibitions of individual sub-themes will be held in the five exhibition halls of the museum, for a showcase of design that will cover 6000 sq m in total.
Centred on the theme 'Design and City Development', the Beijing Design Forum will put design dialogue on centre stage, where a panel of key figures from the design industry will address the possibility of building an international design network of 'design cities'. The panel will include London Design Festival chief executive and chairman Sir John Sorrell, founder and director of Helsinki Design Week Kari Korkman, and architect and editor-in-chief of international magazine Abitare Stefano Boeri,
The Beijing Design Forum will take place in the Golden Hall on 28 September and aims to foster the sustainable development of China's design industries while helping to identify and create new opportunities for international cooperation.
Many international exhibitions are expected to enrich Beijing Design Week as part of this programme, with participation from countries including Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Australia, marking the cosmopolitan character of this year's edition.
Contributions by a mass of design-related organisations and individuals will be focused on different districts, each celebrating their own particular contribution to the world of design in Beijing.
For more information see the website www.bjdw.org/en/
