{"id":48123,"date":"2026-10-28T13:41:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T12:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/dutch-design-week-what-makes-chinese-design-chinese\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T14:09:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T13:09:25","slug":"dutch-design-week-what-makes-chinese-design-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/dutch-design-week-what-makes-chinese-design-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Design Week: What makes Chinese design Chinese?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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And Shi de Weijer<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Eindhoven, 19 October 2026<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

What happens when two design cultures find each other. During the annual Dutch Design Week (DDW) in Eindhoven, hundreds of different kinds of designers can show off their projects. From biotechnology to social impact design, hundreds of designers from around the world can show their creations. The Nanjing University of Arts was also present. In a special symposium organized by the VNC, three speakers shared their perspectives about the chances that evolve after two different creative cultures meet in design.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n




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Tour<\/h3>\n

Several guests were able to participate in a tour led by Daan van Eijk. He is a professor at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at TU Delft. Daan showed the group a number of rooms, each filled with unique designs. Nanjing University gave a brief explanation of their own designs. The tour lasted more than two hours. Still, Daan told me that you have only seen a small part of the Dutch Design Week, as it is spread over the entire center of Eindhoven.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Programme manager Loes Voermans talked about the development of the DDW. It started as an idea of the Design Academy and grew into an internationally renowned event. This year’s theme was RAW: Rebel, Authentic, Work. Nowadays we are so used to striving for perfection that we can lose ourselves in it. This theme therefore emphasized that we need to experiment more, not be afraid to make mistakes and let go of control. Design doesn’t have to be perfect; We can learn from our mistakes. This can help to come up with new solutions to social challenges or climate change.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Nanjing University of Arts stand at DDW<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Traditional Chinese design in modern design<\/h3>\n

Professor Wencong Wang from the Nanjing University of Arts gave a presentation on how traditional Chinese elements are still used in contemporary design. The core idea is that age-old knowledge still has great value for innovation. Traditional materials such as wood, bamboo and porcelain form an important basis for this. Although designers today use different production techniques or materials, the original form and techniques remain visible. Wang gave an example of the bamboo braiding technique, which is still used today, but with a different type of material. The Chinese fan was also used as inspiration for new products, such as a pattern for a silk scarf or a modern ceiling fan. This shows how traditional objects can be given a new function.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Presentation of Wencong Wang: bamboo braiding technique<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The main message was that tradition and innovation can make each other stronger. By combining cultural heritage with modern technology, designers can create innovative products that maintain their cultural identity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Designing with China<\/h3>\n

Robert Barnhoorn of the design agency Spark spoke about the collaboration between Dutch designers and Chinese manufacturers. Based on his experience in industrial design, he emphasized the importance of an integrated design process, where design, engineering and production come together from the start. As an example, he mentioned the development of a care robot for home use, parts of which are produced in China. In such cases, it is important to look not only at the design, but also at the technical feasibility and assembly.<\/p>\n

Dutch design expertise and Chinese production capabilities can complement each other well. By brainstorming together, sharing knowledge and involving the market, new ideas and better products arise.<\/p>\n

Robert’s message was: “We design together.” Successful innovation occurs when partners don’t just divide tasks, but design together and take responsibility.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Robert Barnhoorn<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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International cooperation<\/h3>\n

The symposium was closed by Sashi Claringbould, former Deputy Consul General and Head of Economic Affairs at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Shanghai. She provided insight into international cooperation from an administrative perspective, with Rotterdam and Shanghai as examples. There are three lessons we should focus on:<\/p>\n

Manage expectations: make expectations and agreements clear to avoid misunderstandings.<\/p>\n

Connect both worlds: combine the strengths of both countries. China is strong in flexibility, production speed and large-scale implementation, while the Netherlands excels in systems thinking, networking and quality.<\/p>\n

Locate a team: Build a team that understands the cultural, organizational, and political context in which you work together. For example, long-term planning and five-year plans play an important role in China.<\/p>\n

Cultural differences affect the collaboration. That is why it is important to understand each other’s working methods and to combine the different qualities.<\/p>\n

This symposium taught us that design is not only about making products, but also about shaping collaboration. Different backgrounds, qualities and historical methods can create new innovations for the future.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Sashi Claringbould<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And Shi de Weijer Eindhoven, 19 October 2026 What happens when two design cultures find each other. During the annual Dutch Design Week (DDW) in Eindhoven, hundreds of different kinds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1365,"featured_media":48097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[334,336,326,409,398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-society","category-event-reports","category-geen-onderdeel-van-een-categorie","category-in-the-carousel","category-in-the-spotlight-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1365"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48125,"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48123\/revisions\/48125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}