No.4 Sub-Theme Exhibition: GOOD GUYS

Exhibition Space:

about 900 square meters

Curatorial team:

Barbara Holzer

Swiss Architect, Curator, Professor at the Peter Behrens School of Architecture, Partner of Holzer Kobler Architekturen

Tristan Kobler

Swiss Architect, Curator, Professor at University of art and design Lausanne, Partner of Holzer Kobler Architekturen

Martin Heller (Consultant)

Swiss Curator, Critic, Former Director of the Zurich Design Museum

Li Degeng

Chinese Designer, Curator, Art Director of the magazines Design Management, FRAME and MARK Chinese version, Academic Director of Design House of Today Art Museum

Interpretation of the Theme:

Society is developing increasingly fast in parallel with the expansion of globalization. It is a real trend that overwhelms whatever one likes or dislikes. The intricacies of a chosen lifestyle are filled with conflicts, overlaps, mixes and hybrids. Forcefully as the current goes on, the old integrity is being shattered, and the pieces reorganized into shapes that frame new meanings and values. Indeed, the reality of today is in itself a hybridized one.

“Good Guys” foregrounds contemporary designers concerned with finding new ways to create objects that deal with ostensibly complex social issues filled with both compatibilities and contradictions. With these we make clear to the public that regionalization and globalization are not in a binary opposition; that modern manufacturing is not necessarily a replacement of traditional artisan craftsmanship; and that the unspoken words which underline the future do not leave out the past. It is the mutual responsibility of designers and consumers to seek sustainable, fair trade, recycled and individualized products.

The exhibition takes into account many design categories. The showpieces, in the form of objects, models and installations, create a comprehensive visualization for the public to see what sparks world-class design-minds and what leads to their special attitudes toward life. Anyway, without Good Designers, the so-called Good Guys, Good Design will not be achieved.