Maison&Objet Design Award China, the winning entries are unveiled

It’s a highly ambitious project. Launched in Shenzhen in December 2019, the aim of the Maison&Objet Design Award China is to seek out the cream of the country’s design crop, be that rising talents or confirmed industry professionals.  The dedicated website clocked up thousands of hits within days of going live, whilst a promotional roadshow took the Award’s organisers to nine of the country’s major cities, travelling from Beijing to Shanghai, Taipei to Chengdu and then on to Suzhou and Wuxi. The Award is backed by institutions such as Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), the French consulate in China, and other economic players such as the China Building Decoration Association (CBDA) and the Shenzhen International Art Design Center (IADC).

Some of the Chinese design world’s most eminent names had been invited to sit on the jury, including architect and sculptor Chi Wing Lo, Beijing International Design Week’s Hui Zeng, and Emma Chen, Vice-President of the UNESCO’s International Organization of Folk Art. Flying the European flag were designers Luca Nichetto, Sébastian Herkner and José Levy, who were joined in their discussions by industry specialists Damien Perrot (ACCOR Group) Martin Gleize (Roche-Bobois) and Marc Partouche, Secretary-General of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), Former dean of EnsAD, all proven experts in this highly specific market. Today, following a few false starts caused by the pandemic, the winners have finally been announced. 

Entrants were divided into two distinct groups - students and industry professionals - to compete across a range of categories, including product design (furniture and objects) and interior design (private or work spaces, hotels, restaurants).  The winners’ creations, which hold up a mirror to current design drivers, are imbued with ancestral expertise and references to poetry and nature through pebble-like mirrors or hibiscus-embroidered brocades. Student Liuqing Liu, gold medal-winner in the product category, placed ecological awareness centre stage with a set of coffee cups manufactured from a blend of polyurethane and recycled coffee capsules. Ader Chan, who was awarded first prize in the industry professionals category, came up with a table lamp evoking sunrise, whilst Chuang-Han Tang captured the jury’s hearts with a spa featuring a massage table carved out of a solid block of stone. The silver medal in the High-Tech category for industry professionals went to Jia Zhuang for a crystal vase sculpted in 3D. “We judged all the entries based on a number of criteria”, explains José Levy.  “The designs needed to have market value and be relevant to Chinese culture.”

It was back in January 2019, when the inaugural Rising Talent Awards for up-and-coming Chinese designers were being presented at Maison&Objet Paris, that the idea for this new award first came about. The Rising Talent Awards turn the spotlight on a different country each year, and the idea was to take that one step further and strengthen the relationship with China by creating a special award that would build robust bridges between this leading economic player and the brands that exhibit at Maison&Objet Paris. It was hoped that this would ultimately give rise to promising two-way economic developments, both for Chinese and European designers and manufacturers on the two continents. Mission accomplished, it would seem, as whilst sitting on the jury, José Levy was invited to design high-tech pieces for OPPO-Realme, coming up with a pair of headphones and a television. “It all happened very quickly”, he explains. “They are amazingly efficient.” The young prize-winning designers from the 2019 edition of the Rising Talent Awards have since worked with European design houses or galleries, thereby securing international reach and fast-tracking their careers. Maison&Objet’s partner for the Design Award China is import-export firm Chaoshang, the on-site associate of Lattoflex and Treca, whilst its PR partner is Aube Events, a firm that can offer valuable advice to anyone keen to gain a foothold in the Chinese market. “In this market, being able to rely on a solid go-between is absolutely crucial”, warns Sonia Su, Marketing Director at Aube Events, who draws on her bicultural French and Chinese roots. “Numerous misunderstandings can arise between a brand’s needs and a designer’s aspirations.” The prizewinners’ work will go on show in Shanghai at the end of April, before going under the spotlight at the next edition of the trade fair in Paris.