Design Events Galore: BODW kick-off

[Tiffany Wan]

Bringing together international designers for 10 years running, yesterday was the kick-off to Hong Kong’s Business of Design Week 2011, an annual design event that brings the best of design to Hong Kong to encourage businesses to unleash the power of design. Each year there’s a partner country that hosts the event in conjunction with Hong Kong, and this year it’s Germany. Contemporary German design does not get more quintessential than Deiter Rams, who will be the opening speaker for the event.

The international (and Hong Kong) design community aim to learn from Germany’s foundation of industrial basics, which have always had product and design marketability in mind—the business of design. At the kick-off, Mr. Werner Hans Lauk, German Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau, included quality, technology, and design function and aesthetics as part of the marketability package.

“Made in Germany” has always commanded respect and the design community in Asia can certainly learn from such a design rich nation as Germany. Although BODW has a focus on Germany this year, there’s an impressive list of international speakers and panelists. Of particular interest to the Design Museum Boston community will likely be the work of Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect who focuses his work not only on sustainability, but also temporary structures for disaster relief. With focus on post-disaster communities, Ban’s work has been employed in China after the Sichuan earthquake, by the UN High Commission for Refugees in Turkey and Rwanda, and in Japan after this year’s earthquake and tsunami. Other speakers are from high profile organizations like Audi, Hugo Boss, and Porsche Design.

BODW runs in conjunction with Detour, a community engagement and design event organized by Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design to showcase and feature emerging creative talent. It’s another of the growing number of events that aim to bring the city of Hong Kong together.

It’s really very exciting to see that DMB is one in a number of organizations with an emphasis on the importance of community involvement, collaboration, and education. As always, come if you can! I’ll do my best to provide updates and highlights as the series of events kick-off in late November, and the formal BODW event commences on December 1. 

 

Photos: Courtesy of BODW and DT Communications