Shanghai Interior Design Festival 2011 Report

The Shanghai International Interior Design Festival 2011 ran for six spectacular days (June 22nd-27th). At the design forum held on the first day, my mission was to acquaint the world with Nagoya’s endeavors as a City of Design, part of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network. The theme of the forum was the “New Trend of Green Design”. Onstage, I joined delegates from seven other cities: Berlin, Montreal, Kobe, Shenzhen, Seoul, Saint Etienne and Graz.

My 20-minute presentation covered two sets of topics; First, I introduced the variety of continuing initiatives undertaken by Nagoya, and then the educational lab work we’ve done at the university. My presentation on the former concentrated on the city’s practical projects, based on the policy of Nagoya as a hub for manufacturing, including nurturing the next generation, making environment-conscious efforts and networking across cultures, describing in detail ventures ranging from the International New Designers Workshop; to the international competition Nagoya Design DO!; NAGOYA DESIGN WEEK; COP10 (The 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity) and the Aichi Triennale International Arts Festival. In the second half, I talked about sustainable design, regional alliances and how to enjoy design, highlighting our empty home conversion projects and installation work, which I saw as closely related to the forum’s theme. The energy of local figures and members of the media, using the festival as an opportunity to appeal to the world, filled the venue, and I keenly felt the height of their concern for green design.

In conclusion, I will touch on the excursion prepared for forum delegates from abroad. Although this was my third visit to Shanghai, I found this excursion refreshing and meaningful, as it gave us the opportunity to listen to the guide’s detailed explanations and share our thoughts with one another. In particular, each and every conversion was excellent; there I saw as-yet-unnoticed possibilities for the resurrection of historic resources through design. I look forward to watching the city improve qualitatively, through its focus on green design both substantial and perceptual.

Makoto Tanida

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