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Shenzhen Design Week opened on Wednesday inside Gangxia North Metro Station – a nod to the Guangdong city’s innovation and inclusivity, regional media reports. The station’s chief designer, Qie Xuegang, said that using the massive transport hub to house the 10-day event highlighted design’s “people-oriented” nature. Almost 400,000 passenger trips are made each day at sleek, futuristic Gangxia North, which is known for its striking geometric ceiling. “Hosting the Design Week here allows it to … communicate the city’s underlying spirit of innovation to all sectors of society,” he said at the launch ceremony. [See more: Chinese scientists are designing a washing machine for use in space] This year’s programme features a Global “Cities of Design” Roundtable, the World Designers Congress, awards ceremonies and other initiatives. The Kunpeng Global Design Awards – one of the most anticipated parts of Design Week – drew more than 5,200 entries from 18 countries and regions. Six projects won gold. One winning project was “Flight Wood X,” a drone education system for teenagers developed in Chongqing and inspired by traditional Chinese mortise-and-tenon joinery. Team member Li Yang told Shenzhen Daily that he saw “integrating the wisdom of traditional craftsmanship into modern innovation, especially in tech” as a critical mission for China’s younger generations. He described participating in the Kunpeng Awards as “immensely rewarding” and said he felt inspired after spending time in such an “inclusive, innovative, and cutting-edge” city as Shenzhen. [See more: Meet the Chinese city that makes 85 percent of China’s designer toys] The Shenzhen Design Award for Young Talent, meanwhile, attracted young designers from 48 of UNESCO’s Creative Cities around the world and had 21 winners. Design Week is also seeing the release of the World Cities of Design Blue Book, a report pulling insights from UNESCO Creative Cities and academic research together to support Shenzhen’s expansion. It was edited by the director of Shenzhen University’s Design Strategy and Innovation Ecology Research Institute, Han Han. The festival runs until 7 November.
