HONG KONG: BUSINESS OF DESIGN WEEK
Hong Kong is the perfect location for Business Of Design Week. From the first introductory moments of landing into its magnificent, sprawling Norman Foster designed airport terminal to the taxi journey into the constantly morphing architectural face of the city you’re overwhelmed by iconic architecture and design from the off, straight away you get the impression that Hong Kong is a small country with big ideas and that creativity is a major driving force in it’s future growth.
BODW 2013 saw Belgium’s leading designers across many fields sharing their inspirations, motivations and creative tips at Asia’s largest creative event of its kind. Even the HM Queen of the Belgians (yep, that’s how she’s referred too) was in attendance.
The 2013 event saw an international mix of leading celebrated designers and architects and urbanists with the emphasise on Belgium’s creativity.
Highlights included the ‘Godfather’ of Italian design Stefano Giovannoni, who spoke about his experiences of designing some of the most commercially successful products in the world, including the Mami lines of household products for Alessi and the much copied Bombo Stool, which was so futuristic that it’s appeared in numerous sci-fi movie sets such as Star Trek and Lost In Space as well as featuring in many a hotel bar and kitchen Worldwide.
Richard Florida
Richard Florida found international fame with his 2002 book The Rise of the Creative Class in which he argued that the ‘creative class’ – those whose professions were to create new and forward thinking ideas would be the post-industrial era’s new economic driving force, and that creativity was the new resource for growth. At BODW he put forward the idea that creative cities need a ’3T mindset’ consisting of ‘talent, tolerance and technology’ to attract the creative class to a city.
Xavier Lust works in various fields from urban furniture famous for their curves and simplicity as well as interior architecture, industrial commissions and limited edition pieces. As well as having the coolest name around he’s also well known for having created a unique technique enabling to fold and curve steel for his furniture without using a mould.
DETOUR
Organised by Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design as part of the “Vibrant Hong Kong” and “Hong Kong: Our Home” campaign DETOUR’s city-wide campaign took on a wide reaching and bold approach to to curating the city using pop up spaces and historical buildings as design hubs and creative spaces for exhibiting Hong Kong as a creative metropolis.
A themed DETOUR MATTERS – From Microtopias to Social Innovation, provided a platform to provide small places in the city where something quite unique and unexpected might happen and occur. These include performances, a fashion show, workshops and a pop-up showcase for design based products.
DETOUR took in various sites around Hong Kong including the tram system, where the curators transformed the islands public transport system to create four very unique mobile environments including the Eatery; where passengers could partake in a unique dining experience which offered the opportunity to relax and chat with fellow participants on the tram and take a rare opportunity to slow down and relax whilst travelling across the hustle and bustle that is Hong Kong.
Detour: miro kitchen and bar
The Kitchen & Bar by Miro on the lower deck of the Detour Eatery Tram was created using galvanized steel to give a local touch. Built in sinks, shelving units, and storage were made to meet the needs of a cooking environment and Fresh herbs, plants & vegetables, added a smell of freshness and the great outdoors.
The second tram, DETOUR Classroom, allowed passengers to enjoy the view of Hong Kong Island while reading design and architectural books on a moving library on the rail. Workshops and seminars were also held on the upper deck while a gallery of the history of the tram system took over the lower deck.
Detour classroom
DETOUR’s third tram ‘Black Box’ was Submerged into darkness with its blacked out windows as the tram went through Hong Kong Island. Passengers experienced the city from a whole new perspective with the intention to initiate interactions between participants and street passengers in an enclosed pitch-black environment, whilst the forth tram DETOUR Music Box featured live music live music performances from bands and DJ’s whilst on the move.
The Belgium link also appeared at the fashion show that presented the best of Hong Kong and Belgian fashion talent trends through a collection of work by young designers as well as an outdoor performance piece’ by Brussels based dancers and choreographers Wooshing Machine.
Detour: Wooshing Machine
PMQ
Located in the vibrant and cosmopolitan SoHo area in Central, the former Police Married Quarters is being revitalised to house over 100 designers and entrepreneurs in a studio-cum-incubation space that will support and accelerate the creativity and business growth of new design start ups and businesses that are ready to take the next step into selling there work in a young and creative environment. The Designers-in-Residence programme will also bring designers from different parts of the world to PMQ for collaborations. As an international design and fashion hub, it will certainly be a space to keep an eye on.
Hong Kong and BODW is perfect event if you’re an designer, entrepreneur, student or simply a creative mind looking for inspiration.
It takes place annually at the beginning of December each year and focuses on a new partnership country.
