For quite some time China has had an important role in the Design sector but this year, for the first time, one of the most important Chinese economic centers will also have it. That is Suzhou, the metropolis located in Jiangsu Province, which is already a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which, from the 23rd to the 27th of November will host the first edition of the SUZHOU DESIGN WEEK at the Gusu District Peachblossom Village.
For quite some time China has had an important role in the Design sector but this year, for the first time, one of the most important Chinese economic centers will also have it. That is Suzhou, the metropolis located in Jiangsu Province, which is already a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which, from the 23rd to the 27th of November will host the first edition of the SUZHOU DESIGN WEEK at the Gusu District Peachblossom Village.
The creative direction of the SUZHOU DESIGN WEEK, promoted by the Municipal Government of Suzhou and undertake by Suzhou National Historical & Cultural City Protection Zone, with the institutional support of the Chinese Government, and Vittorio Sun Qun and Xie Dan’s contribution.
As Xu Gang, director-general of Suzhou National Historical & Cultural City Protection Zone mentioned at the Suzhou Design Week launch event, the main goal of this event is to highlight how the Design became one of the driving forces of the economy of Suzhou, an international city important for the reciprocal cultural exchanges and a center of innovation, creativity and development.
Guest City of the first edition will be the city of Venice, with the project “X-Port Venice”, curated by Michele Brunello.
The city of Suzhou is part, as well as other cities such as Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Xuzhou, of the so-called “Yangtze River Delta Economy”, that is the Economic Zone of the Yangtze River Delta, financial center of Mainland China, dominated by Shanghai.
Shanghai prevails in the financial, banking, real estate, automotive and logistics sectors, while Suzhou is a solid manufacturing center, which is more and more paying attention
to a new concept of creativity, which links the millennial Chinese artisanal and manufacturing tradition with the new trends of the design industry.
With the first edition of the SUZHOU DESIGN WEEK, which is set to become an international brand of exhibitions in the design sector, the city of Suzhou is getting ready to host more than 40 designers coming from Italy, Korea, Netherlands, France, Japan and United Kingdom, among whom some of the big names of the Chinese design industry: Wang Yudong, Curator of photography exhibition “Urban Spirit”, Jiang Youbo, Art Director of “Suzhou’s Golden Age” installation, Wu Wenyi, Curator of architectural exhibition “Footprint”.
“Grand Design, New Economy” is the main theme of the Week whose calendar includes more than 100 exhibitions and art installations to let the public know also the “Green design” culture and its multiple applications in improving the quality of daily life while respecting the heritage and environment.
During the SUZHOU DESIGN WEEK – which will mainly take place at the “Peachblossom Village” – projects of Urban Regeneration of the historic city of Suzhou will be presented, for a sustainable development through an inclusive design model and the building of communities; Ecology of the Industry will also be discussed, focusing on new economic, technological and social strategies of the creative industry; finally, special attention will be paid to the Intangible cultural heritage, useful to create new artisanal design models which should not disperse the wealth of the historic manufacturing tradition of Suzhou, as exemplified by the “Six chapters of a floating Life” exhibition, curated by Zeng Hui.
Among the scheduled events, the Global Design Summit stands out, organized in cooperation with UNESCO-ICCSD, World Design Weeks and more organizations, leaders in the sustainable development and cultural heritage sectors.
