Italy Designing Day: Exploring sustainability and design

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The Italian designs were on display Friday at the Second Italy Design Day in Beijing, with many experts in attendance at the Italian embassy.

Italy Design Day has been to more than 100 cities around the world to promote debates about the relationship between design and sustainability.

One of China's acclaimed young designers, Frank Chou, also took part in the Beijing event.

Chou said the design affects people's lives.

Beijing Forum of the Italian Design Day /CGTN Photo

"Sometimes the designers may seem to be designing an item or a building, but the design is closely related to people's way of life and living situation, so I think a design is not just about shaping, but about ways of thinking that the designer wants to convey," he said.

On this special day, 100 “ambassadors” of Italian culture scattered in 100 cities around the world discussed the link between design and sustainability. In Beijing, personalities from different fields gathered for a roundtable meeting on sustainability issues associated with designing, customs, and production processes.

Participants said sustainable policies are central for both governments and the private sector, adding that they have been sharing ideas on how to incorporate sustainability into design.

“Bookworm” designed by Ron Arad /CGTN Photo

"It's more than four decades since the start of China's reform and opening-up, but it takes time for China's design to catch up with the top-level designs in the world," said Yang Dongjiang, vice director of Tsinghua University Art Museum. "Now more and more designers and clients are aware of the environment, which is very important to sustainability."

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