Indigenous Furniture Design

By+Tang+yuankai

Magnificent and elegant Chinese furniture decorated the major venue for this years APEC meeting hosted in Beijing—the International Conference Center in Huairou District. Wooden tables and round-back armchairs were arranged in a circle， surrounded by screens， radiating the charm of Chinas culture and the wisdom of its designers.

Round-back armchairs are quintessential Chinese. “Every chair was tailor-made，” boasted Li Hong， who heads a business division of BBMG Tiantan Furniture Co. Ltd.， a major furniture supplier for the Beijing APEC meetings.

Li said that the chairs were specially designed to fit the leaders individual figures so as to make the occupants comfortable.

yet these armchairs differ from traditional ones in that they are installed with foot rests and hidden wheels. The position of the foot rest can be adjusted according to a leaders need to make him or her more comfortable， and the wheels made the mahogany chairs， each of which weighs more than 10 kg， more mobile.

It takes at least half a year to make such a chair. “Special crafts were employed to prevent the mahogany from cracking in dry air，” said yang Jincai， General Manager of BBMG Tiantan Furniture Co. Ltd.

yang said the chairs were coated with natural wax， which forms a protective film on timber， and varnished with an odorless， non-toxic， water-based finish.

“The curved wooden screens， chairs and other pieces of furniture are all very impressive，”said Chen Shengqiang， General Manager of BOL Furniture Co. Ltd. in south Chinas Guangdong Province.

Chen is particularly impressed with the two mahogany wooden relief murals in the main ballroom of the International Conference Center. The two murals， which are each 15 meters long and 4.5 meters tall， feature plum blossoms carved using a variety of complex and intricate woodworking techniques. The five petals of every flower represent joy， happiness， longevity， success and peace. The flowers， either depicted budding， half open or in full blossom， are neatly outlined and arranged. While decorating the conference room， they also added another element of Chinese culture to the venue.

“Behind every piece of art work are a good number of designers and artisans，” Chen said.

Chen himself is a furniture designer as well as a business owner. He believes that designers are the core of a furniture business. His company attaches particular importance to hiring and training furniture designers， and offers them pay and status that match their value.endprint

But things do not work well for quite a number of designers because many companies do not want to spend much money and efforts in designing and development， and their innovative efforts are often not adequately rewarded， Chen said.

The furniture industry is plagued by plagiarism， Chen lamented. Nonetheless， he said that his confidence in the space for innovation has increased after Premier Li Keqiang stressed that the government will dole out more severe punishments for infringements of intellectual property rights during the Eighth Summer Davos Forum held in Tianjin from September 10-12.

Chinese furniture was once internationally reputed， yet in recent years， it gave people the impression that it is low in creativity， cost and added value. The domestic furniture industry is striving to earn more international recognition. In 2012， Chinese furniture producers and designers debuted at the 50-year-old Milan Furniture Fair， one of the most prestigious events for furniture artisans， in the capacity of exhibitors， and gained a lot of attention with their original designs.

About 80 chairs designed by more than 50 Chinese designers were displayed in the Slow Seating—Contemporary Chinese Design exhibition， which was part of the Milan Furniture Fair. Corriere della Sera， the most circulated magazine in Italy devoted one whole page to reporting the emergence of Chinese contemporary design on the international stage.

Zhu Xiaojie， Deputy Director of China Furniture Design Committee， said the Milan Furniture Fair is one of the three important design exhibitions in the world and the weather vane of global design trend， and Chinese producers and designers performance at the fair would help change the stereotyped image of Chinese design.

We always aspire to cast off the incorrect perception of “made-in-China” products， and we want to help Chinese furniture become some of the finest the world， said Tian Wanliang， Secretary General of the Information Advisory Committee of China Building Decoration Association.

Tian said the Chinese designs debut at the Milan Furniture Fair was a good beginning. He suggested Chinese furniture companies should pay more attention to product originality and quality， rather than focusing on profit and growth.

In 2013， more than 20 famous Chinese designers took tea tables， chairs and tea sets they designed to the Milan Furniture Fair， again，presenting the unique charm of Chinese design to the world.endprint

East-West exchanges

From September 26 to October 3， Zhu held a personal design exhibition at the Beijing Design Week. At the exhibition， the furniture， porcelain， furs and other products he designed were displayed.

As a designer and entrepreneur， Zhu has paid particular attention to exchanges and cooperation with domestic and foreign peers. He has worked with designers from a number of countries and they co-produced products.

Zhu and Danish designer Lone Olsen jointly designed Lone Chairs. Strips of fur decorated the chairs， accenting the natural beauty of the wood and highlighting the simple but attractive form of the furniture.

Zingana， a precious timber produced in West Africa， is Zhus favorite raw material. “Its light yellow texture， dark brown grain， and especially its oblique shape make it very， very pretty，”Zhu said.

After finishing his schooling in Australia， Zhu returned to China and began to explore the best way to express the beauty of Zingana. He set up a company to study Zingana and develop related products and created his furniture brand Opal. He has successfully designed and developed a series of furniture products with a blend of modern and traditional Chinese style. At the end of last year， he launched another new brand.

Though Zhu is known for his unique understanding and extraordinary design in the furniture industry， recently he seems to have fallen in love with fur from Kopenhagen， as much as he loves wood. Through cross-over design， Zhu has combined Zen in an oriental context with the vitality of nature in the West.

Zhu went to Denmark in 2010 and it was more fate than a coincident that he could work with Danish company Kopenhagen Fur， he said. This all began with the y-shaped chair created by Danish master designer Hans Wegner， inspired by Chinese furniture from the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）. Zhu was amazed how accurately and subtly a Western designer could express oriental charm. He began to try combining wood and fur， two different but complementary materials.

Nurturing talent

Zhu is also the president of Wenzhou Furniture College in east Chinas Zhejiang Province. He thinks of original designs as key to the development of Chinas furniture industry.

yet， furniture designers are in short supply in China. Preliminary industrial statistics show that there are more than 30，000 furniture producers in China， which hire fewer than 3，000 designers. This means that there is only one designer for every 10 furniture companies.endprint

Worse still， existing designers vary widely in their skills. Most of them are no more than draftsmen that can imitate others work， while experienced and creative designers are extremely rare.

The furniture industry began to attach importance to product design. “Previously companies focused on selling products， now， they seek product innovation through cooperation with designers，” Zhu said. Due to the shortage of talented domestic designers， big furniture firms have to shell out money to hire foreign designers.

Realizing the importance of furniture designers， training agencies and vocational schools， especially those in big furniture producing provinces such as Guangdong and Zhejiang， have also started to offer relevant courses.

In Wenzhou Furniture College， students apprentice with masters and learn about modern design concepts. Zhu has compiled a 60，000-word design textbook for the students.

Zhu often told his students that a designer is the combination of artist and artisan， and a good designer must first be a good artisan. Through internship， students put their knowledge into practice.endprint