Quite frankly, we’re always happy to find an excuse to spend a bit of time in the Shanghai Exhibition Centre. The 1955 Soviet-style building, sometimes referred to as the ‘wedding cake’, has more charm than the multitude of new conference centres on the fringes of the city combined. Appropriate then, that this should be the venue of choice for the second Design Shanghai, a showcase of all things visually fabulous (not to mention fabulously expensive) that rolled back into town this past weekend.
Shanghai has always played second fiddle to Beijing in the contemporary art world, but the organizers of this show seemed determined to proclaim Shanghai as the design capital of China. Locals turned out in full support – so packed was the building’s vast Central Hall that the usually unflappable army of Italian vendors in sharp suits, here to promote their wares to a new generation of style-conscious homeowners, looked distinctly harried. Ticket touts prowled the streets outside, selling entry passes to those who had come too late to register.
But whilst the prime slots were dominated by international brands, it was great to see some a selection of more locally focused products too. Top of our wish list was a fantastic Shanghai carpet imprinted with a map of the city by Urban Fabric and beautiful, abstract ceramics by designer Haoyu Wu.
With so much great design emerging from Shanghai it would have been nice to see even more local talent supported, especially some of the smaller companies that have been popping up in the former French Concession and beyond. Nevertheless, the popularity of the event showed a level of enthusiasm that few would have predicted prior to last year’s inaugural Design Shanghai, and we’ll be back in 2016 for another bite of the wedding cake.
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