survey_40 — industrial and product design
1. Yang Mingjie — 杨明洁 ()
An industrial designer, founder of the YANG DESIGN studio (Shanghai, 2005) and of the product-design brand 羊舍 (Yang House); initiator of China's first private museum of industrial design.
- Path — studied for seven years at Zhejiang University (浙江大学) and the China Academy of Art (中国美术学院); received a full scholarship from the WK foundation and went to Germany, where he completed a master's degree in industrial design (Muthesius); after that he worked at the Siemens design headquarters in Munich; in 2005 he founded YANG DESIGN in Shanghai.
- Studio — YANG DESIGN is an industrial-design consultancy; it includes a museum of industrial design, a design-strategy institute, a CMF-trend lab, a user-research lab, a digital-processing centre, product and brand innovation departments, and its own brand 羊舍. Partners include Boeing, BMW, Audi, Infiniti, Hermès, Bosch, Samsung, Philips, Schneider, Hitachi, Unilever, Haier, Huawei and Vanke.
- Works — the folding sofa-chair 云 (in Tyvek; a series begun with the 2013 model 在云端; in 2023 it was accepted into the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris), the 空气 series (air sofas made of fibre), the screen installation 虚山水, the chair 榫卯的重构, the chair 莫比斯环 (FDM 3D printing from recycled materials), the series 编织&算法 and 数字编织鞋, the 羊舍 carbon-fibre smart suitcase, the Italian modular home system T-BOX (Milan, 2011), the tea set 知竹常乐, and the light installations 光之森林 and 极境之光 (Milan Furniture Fair, 2022).
- Museum — in 2013 he founded in Shanghai the 杨明洁设计博物馆 — China's first private museum of industrial design, with an area of 5,000 m²; it consists of a permanent hall, a CMF-trend lab, a temporary-exhibition hall and a stepped gallery; the collection holds several thousand objects from the craft era to the digital one.
- Awards — more than a hundred awards, including gold at the German Design Award, gold at iF, Red Dot, Japan's Good Design, the American IDEA, gold at Pentawards, gold at London Design, silver at the DFA and silver at the DIA (for a modular kitchen system for Boeing); he was included in Forbes China's list of the most influential industrial designers.
2. Jia Wei — 贾伟 (Ningxia, c. 1975)
An industrial designer, founder and chairman of LKK 洛可可创新设计集团; founder of the digital design platform 洛客 and of the brand 55度.
- Path — from Ningxia, he grew up by the Tengger desert; in 2000 he graduated from the Tianjin University of Science and Technology in industrial design; he then worked at Lenovo, where in five years he developed more than 40 products and set up an industrial-design department for Shenzhou Digital; in 2004 he rented a single desk for 500 yuan and founded 洛可可 (LKK).
- LKK — its first big project was the ticket sales and control system (AFC) for lines 10 and 4 of the Beijing metro ahead of the Olympics (together with Samsung); in 2010 the company was reorganised as the integrated innovation-design group 洛可可创新设计集团; in 2013 it entered the first list of state industrial-design centres approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; in 2016 the digital design platform 洛客 was founded.
- Works — in 2014 the 55度杯 was released — a thermal mug that cools boiling water to about 55 °C after shaking (the idea came after his younger daughter was scalded); the studio has designed products for Haier, Honeywell, Mars, Huawei (a printer) and Epson (projectors), Dessmann (locks), as well as smart speakers, lamps, medical devices and household appliances; the official-site catalogue includes robot charging stations, music devices, kitchen and climate appliances, made-to-order furniture, packaging and cultural-creative (文创) series.
- Books and roles — author of the books 产品三观, 元宇宙力, 世界是设计出来的 and 产品五品; chairman of the China Industrial Design Association (according to the media); a mentor at the 黑马营 accelerator.
- Awards — according to LKK and the press: a holder of 79 Red Dot awards and a number of iF, IDEA, G-Mark, Good Design and Red Star awards; presented as the only Chinese designer to hold gold in all five international design awards (Red Dot, iF, IDEA, G-Mark, Good Design).
3. Zhang Lei — 张雷 (Tianjin)
A designer, co-founder and design director of the 品物流形 PINWU studio (Hangzhou–Yuhang, 2004) and founder of the non-profit traditional-materials library 融设计图书馆; the initiator of the From Yuhang project.
- Path — from Tianjin; he graduated from the Domus Academy in Milan in car design; in Milan he met Christoph John (Germany) and Jovana Zhang (Serbia); in 2010 the three returned to the Yuhang district of Hangzhou and launched the From Yuhang project, studying local traditional crafts.
- Studio — in 2004 the 品物流形 PINWU studio was founded in Yuhang (Hangzhou); since 2009 the team has focused on deconstructing Chinese traditional crafts and materials and applying them to furniture, transport, space, art installations, products and graphics. The studio's motto is “FUTURE TRADITION” (传统的未来).
- Library — in 2015 he founded 融设计图书馆 — China's first non-profit library of traditional craft materials; it studies the material system of Chinese crafts and freely opens the results to designers and artists; material was collected in 32 provinces and regions of China. He initiated the series of exhibition projects 融 Róng (2013–2020; Milan Design Week, Paris, Lugano, Athens, Hong Kong, Hangzhou).
- Works — the 飘 chair in bamboo and paper (Grand Prix at SaloneSatellite, Milan Furniture Fair 2012; Red Dot Best of the Best 2011 and iF 2011), the bamboo whirligig 竹蜻蜓, the bamboo chair 空, the bamboo screen 缠, the chairs 固 and 翩, the chair 鞍 AN (Red Dot 2021), the series 金山银山 and the project Natural Habitat.
- Awards — under Zhang Lei's direction the studio has received more than 20 international design awards (Red Dot, iF, DFA, EDIDA and others); the works have been shown in Italy, France, the Netherlands and Greece.
4. Jiang Qiong'er — 蒋琼耳 (Shanghai)
An artist and designer, co-founder (with Hermès International) and art director of the brand SHANG XIA 上下; a graduate of Tongji University and of ENSAD in Paris.
- Path — born in Shanghai into an artistic family; her maternal grandfather 蒋玄佁 was one of the first Chinese artists to study abroad and a pioneer of introducing Western oil painting to China; her father 邢同和 is an architect, the author of the Shanghai Museum project. She drew from the age of two, and from the age of six studied with the guohua master 程十发 and the calligrapher 韩天衡; in 2000 she graduated from Tongji University in art and design and in 2003 from the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs (ENSAD) in Paris in interior and furniture design.
- SHANG XIA — in 2009, together with Hermès International, she founded the brand 上下 SHANG XIA, becoming its general manager and art director; earlier she worked as art director of Hermès window displays in China. The first collection, in 2010, included the 雕塑 coat in cashmere felt, the 桥 tea set (porcelain in bamboo weaving) and the 大天地 (Da Tian Di) furniture series.
- Works — the 大天地 furniture series (including a carbon-fibre chair, 2015, and a large armchair with 犀皮漆 lacquer decoration), the 桥 tea set of porcelain with 竹丝扣瓷 bamboo weaving, the 清影 screen lamp in bamboo inlay, the 犀皮漆天地盖盒 box, the 云起 tea series, the furniture-and-object collection THE BAMBOO MOOD 祥竹 for Roche Bobois (2024), the one-off Origine for Ferrari (2023) and the anniversary series 存在与时间 for Louis XIII (2024).
- Collections — works have entered the permanent collections of the British Museum (2021 — 清影; 2017 — 犀皮漆天地盖盒), the Victoria and Albert Museum (2019 — the 揽月 bag), the Musée Guimet, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the MAAS museum (Sydney); in 2025 the work 十二呼唤 (XII Calls) entered the permanent collection of UNESCO.
- Awards — Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2013), Chevalier of the National Order of Merit (2016), the Order of the Star of Italy (2023), the 白玉兰 award of the Shanghai municipal government (2023) and the DFA “Outstanding Chinese Designer of the World” (2023); she has appeared on Forbes's list of the 25 most influential Chinese in global fashion and lifestyle.
5. Shi Dayu — 石大宇 (Taiwan)
A product designer, founder and creative director of the brand 清庭 (Taiwan, 1996; since 2010 also a Beijing design centre and concept store); known for his work with bamboo.
- Path — in 1989 he graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology (New York); from 1992 he worked as a designer for the jewellery company Harry Winston, becoming the first designer of Chinese origin in its history; in 1996 he won the grand prix of the De Beers international jewellery design competition, the first laureate of Chinese origin; that same year he returned to Taiwan and founded the brand 清庭.
- 清庭 — the design brand-store was founded in Taipei in 1996 as China's first boutique shop bringing in advanced design objects from around the world; in July 2010 a Beijing design centre and concept store opened (金隅环球贸易中心). Its direction is the development of objects based on the properties of bamboo and on cultural context.
- Works — the teapots 双泉提梁方/圆壶 (Red Dot 2009), the bamboo chairs 椅君子 and 椅琴剑 (both Red Dot 2010), the chair 椅刚柔 (the first stackable bamboo 圈椅, after Ming furniture), the chairs 椅逍遥 and 椅优弦, the tea tray 赞竹茶盘 (Red Dot 2012, DFA gold 2012), 赞岩茶盘, the cabinet 柜茗器, the lamps 竹光 and 竹管灯, 月竹灯, the set 两忘茶器, the table 桌八仙, the screen 屏七贤, 榻梦轮 and 不太圆.
- Exhibitions — the installation exhibition 竹计划 (2011, 天安时间 art centre, Beijing, within 全方位中国设计), showing the potential of bamboo from raw material to finished; it received Red Dot Communication 2011, iF Communication 2012 and a German Design Award 2013 nomination; also the project 巴蜀茶馆 (a concept series for Beijing Design Week).
- Awards — a long-standing winner at Red Dot, the German Design Award, iF, the DFA Award, EDIDA and China Red Star; a member of the “Hall of Fame” of the American magazine Interior Design and part of the first AD100 list of the magazine AD 安邸.
