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  • China Design Now

  • Until Jul 13
  • This event has finished
  • V&A, Cromwell Rd, London, SW7 2RL
  • Rating:
  • V&A

    © V&A Images

  • By Helen Sumpter

    Posted: Thu Mar 20

  • Given that 25 years ago China didn’t have a term for a designer, let alone a design industry, the tale of how rapidly the populous nation got to ‘China Design Now’ makes the subtext of this flagship show as interesting as its exhibits. With no recent references to develop or learn from, contemporary designers across all four disciplines showcased here – graphics, architecture, fashion and lifestyle – have instead drawn on elements from China’s pre-Communist past; especially traditional calligraphy, the fashion of 1930s Shanghai and the traditional courtyard house. There’s barely a whiff of the visual propaganda of the Mao years (or China’s current politics), but plenty of Manga-style cartoon graphics, skateboard and trainer designs for brands such as Nike as well as innovative skyscrapers.

    While it all looks great – architects Tonkin Liu’s stylised dusk to dawn exhibition design concept provides a suitably moody feel – it’s the architecture section that explores and reveals most. Models for low-rise eco-cities give some hope that China won’t be completely subsumed by an unsustainable forest of tower blocks but centre stage is reserved for Beijing’s new Central China Television building, a monolithic structure dominating the business district, rather than the more public Olympic stadium. Designed not by Chinese, but by European architects Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren, the fact that the landmark CCTV building would probably only get permission be to be built in China makes it a statement of architectural and governmental ego, rather than one of urban planning for the people.

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1 comment

  1. Posted by William T Fox on 07 Apr 2008 11:43

    Awful, worthy of one room at the ICA or the design museum, and definitely at the quarter of the price.
    Terrible use of space and frankly quite a lot of tat.
    "is this cool?"

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  • Details

  • V&A, Cromwell Rd, London, SW7 2RL
    , UK
    Geo: 51.496820, -0.172507
  • 020 7942 2000
  • Category: Museums & Attractions
  • Times: Daily 10am-5.45pm, till 10pm Fri
  • Price: £8, seniors £6, students, children (12-17), ES-40 holders £4, family £12 (1 adult + 2 children)/£20 (2 + 2)
  • Tube: South Kensington

  • Map

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