So much wonderful  young Chinese artists & designers are working today and it’s a honor to feature their work on my blog.

I am pleased to begin with the work of Shanghai based designer  Zha Lianghao whose sleek, conceptually driven project The Doberman Chair has caught the attention of many in the design world. Having only recently graduated from Donghua University, he works today for SAIC and has earned a reputation for a sleek sophisticated sense of design, informed by his industrial and product design and engineering training.

The creation of the Doberman Chair was driven by the artist’s questions about “the pairing of the renaissance of traditional handicraft and contemporary design meeting the  demand of today’s world.”

 

It may come as no surprise that Zha Lianghao admires the enduringly modern oeuvre of Charles and Ray Eames. He also notes his appreciation for the work of Daniel Simon, the German conceptual designer, Ross Lovegrove, and Jonathan Ive. When asked about the importance of a specifically Chinese tradition of pictorial vision Zha Lianghao noted:

“I think the most important Chinese aesthetic is harmony. It means that the design must in the right place, not too much or too less.” 

 

golden ratio concept…

The Doberman Chair is Zha Lianghao’s first piece of furniture design, and he shares its genesis:

“The Doberman chair was my very last project in university. In planning the work, I used some car design processes. I was very surprised at its popularity. I know that for myself, I like a wide variety of design styles in many mediums such as video games, animation, movies, as well as concept arts, but it really surprised me that other people really responded to the project. Today I work for a Chinese motor company as a car interiors designer. I love to design in different fields, because it broadens my thinking, and gets me closer to my goal of designing something unseen.”

 

Zha Lianghao is remarkably transparent about the process of conceptualizing, developing and making. As such, he contributes to the design and artistic field, allowing his own creative and construction process to be seen, and to be, in part, a formative teaching moment as well as a powerful engagement with the design industry and community. You can see the entire process on his Behance profile.