REINTERPRETING TRADITIONAL AESTHETICS AND
CONTEMPORARY LIFESTYLES WITH FRESH FURNITURE DESIGNS

PROJECT HK-UK: DESIGN, ARTISTRY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP- A NEW BREED OF CROSS-CULTURAL FURNITURE FROM
HONG KONG AND THE UK
AT SUPERDESIGN SHOW 2022, MILAN

The convergence of different worlds, cultures and aesthetics has made the furniture design scene more fascinating than ever. With deepening cross-cultural dialogue and more fluid disciplinary boundaries, furniture design is breaking away from conventional practices as well as perpetuating traditional craftsmanship. Designers in Hong Kong and the UK are creating extraordinary pieces of furniture that reflect these two locales in an era of massive globalisation. Project HK-UK: Design, Artistry and Craftsmanship, which is organised by the Hong Kong Furniture & Decoration Trade Association (HKF&DA) and sponsored by Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Govern- ment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, will showcase 18 outstanding and imaginative pieces exploring six different themes at SUPERDESIGN SHOW 2022, Milan. These furniture pieces incorporate Asian principles and relate to contempo- rary lifestyles through materials and form. Over the course of the years, the SUPER- DESIGN SHOW has seen the platform for many of the emerging and top companies and designers to launch their products, get network and business opportunities.

Project HK-UK: Design, Artistry and Craftsmanship (Project HK-UK) is a one-of-a-kind mentorship and creative collaboration programme to explore design partnerships and multiculturalism through discussions and debates, and also the design and evolution of live projects. It has six design briefs which were devised by six multi-disciplined Hong Kong designers working with six UK furniture designers with the aim to produce a piece of furniture under each brief, while 40 budding Hong Kong designers followed the same design briefs under the guidance of 12 local design mentors and six production mentors to produce the furniture under the project.
"The resulting pieces of furniture are made possible thanks to a lot of manpower, production resources, creativity, techniques and funds. lt is a precious opportunity to have all this coming together," says May Leung, Chairlady of the HKF&DA. "Responding to the same design briefs, the different pieces by Hong Kong and UK designers reveal some basic cultural differences and design outlooks of East and West. We also see how exquisite craftsmanship unleashes the beauty of a piece of furniture," observed by the project's UK collaborator and one of the participating UK furniture designers Samuel Chan.

Join Us: Visit Project HK-UK at SUPERDESIGN SHOW 2022

Venue:
SUPERDESIGN SHOW (Superstudio Pi - Via Tortona 27 - Milan)

Date & Time:
Sunday 5th June 5pm-8pm V P & Press Preview Monday-Saturday 6th-11th June 11am-9pm Sunday 12th June 11am-6pm (registration is required)
Registration: www.superdesignshow.com I Enquiry: admin@projecthk-uk.com
MULTICULTURAL AND DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES FOUND NOWHERE ELSE:
A KALEIDOSCOPIC VIEW OF HONG KONG DESIGN
Hong Kong creatives are offering a fresh take with their original furniture design under the project - from reinterpreting traditional philosophies - such as with a home station in the spirit of Zen Buddhism, a piece of furniture to write on whether by hand or using a keyboard, an all-in-one space organiser for jewellery and knick-knacks, a chair with different configurations for different moods - to putting forward a view of contemporary lifestyles like the mobile work culture of an architectural designer or work-life integration of a fashion designer.

"As Asia's international metropolis under both Eastern and Western influences, Hong Kong has long been a breeding ground for new culture and design ideas. The younger generation of Hong Kong designers are able to take advantage of novel perspectives borrowed from this melting pot, and express their original views in their work," says Amy Chow, Curator of Project HK-UK.

In the Hong Kong stream of Project HK-UK, 12 groups of young designers are creating one piece of furniture each under the guidance of 12 design mentors and six production mentors. The enthralling results are the coalescence of design creativity and production innovation. To name a few: 24+1 is a chic, rotating sofa-desk for a contemporary lifestyle, which defies a distinct work/life boundary; Zense is a neat, stripped-down home station with precise geometry and woodcraft; NINE shows the beauty of Chinese calligraphy in a set of nine multi-use, metal-structured pieces of furniture decorated with paper, straw and knots; and the Walnut Reading Lounge Chair is a soothing, ergonomicseat with an adjustable magnetic neck cushion.

UK designers are also responding to Asian aesthetics and international trends. Many people are familiar with the sensitive craftsmanship, formal purity and thoughtfulness of UK furniture design, but have perhaps overlooked its tasteful and cultural aspects. In this special project uniting Hong Kong and UK designers, six UK furniture designers are collaborating with six multidisciplinary Hong Kong designers to deliver intriguing pieces which reinterpret Eastern culture from a Western perspective, and respond to global lifestyle tendencies from a different viewpoint. The six resulting pieces are dialectical experiments between East and West, past and future, continuation and innovation. Among them, Clix is a foldable, portable chair that architects can carry, while Compact Mobile is a movable piece of furniture that incorporates jewellery storage, a dressing mirror and a stool, inspired by ancient Chinese jewellery boxes. Its revolving blocks contain a myriad of features just waiting to be discovered.

Project HK-UK will take place at SUPERDESIGN SHOW 2022 in Superstudio, Milan, on 6th-12th June. Come meet the designers and curator in person and discover a fresh view of Hong Kong and UK designs. Explore their divergent design narratives and responses in these unique pieces of furniture.
www.projecthk-uk.com

Organiser:
Hong Kong Furniture & Decoration Trade Association (HKF&DA)

Lead Sponsor:
Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Project Director & Curator:
Amy Chow

UK Collaborator and Mentor Coordinator:
Samuel Chan
Design Briefs by Six HK Established Designers:
Keith Griffiths I Johanna Ho I Chelsia LauI Kai Yin Lo I Sammy Or I Stanley Wong (anothermountainman)
Six Participating UK Furniture Designers:
Samuel Chan I Freshwest I Alex Hellum I Lucy Kurrein I Simon Pengelly I Wales & Wales
12 Participating HK Design Mentors:
Danial Chow I Joey Ho I Irene Ito I Lam Wai Ming I James Law I Lee Chi Wing I Steve Leung Kinosh- ita Mui I Kelvin Ng I Eric Yim I Karr Yip I Manfred Yuen
Six Participating HK Production Mentors:
Huo Runzhong I Allen Kwong I May Leung I Gary Lui I Patrick Tin I Kevin Yiu
40 Participating HK Mentees (12 groups): Lau Tin Ho I Mic Leong I Aron Tsang
Bodin Hon I Dilara Kan I Jeffrey Shum I Yung Sai Chun Jason Kwan I Alan Kwok I Icy Ng I Chris Tsui
Isa Au I So Yuen Yi I Terry Yuen
Linus Kung I Sonia J Lui I Dennis She Kennif Li I Jackie Luk I Zoe Siu
Iris Ho I Louis Hung I Flora Lee Soilworm Lai I Sherene Ng I Rosie Yip
Janko Lam I Christine Lew I Florian Wegenast I Yan Suet Ngo Dennis Cheung I Whitnie Lau I Liu Lok Yi I Leo Yiu
Joyce LiuI Kenny Wong I Ricci Wong Ayesha Kwok I Jason Pang I Dawn Yan