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Nanjing Automotive presented a full-size hatchback concept, taking its design theme from Nanjing city's symbolic "Pi Xie" statue. Design Director Li-Chih Fu demonstrated an interesting way of blending negative surfaces with stylistic curved edges to create a balance between Chinese decoration and modern solidity. Besides styling development, his presentation also highlighted how the future Chinese youth market value expressive decoration and multi-functional space.
Yengfeng-Visteon's Shizuki Kajiyama presented a concept interior inspired by traditional Chinese dancer's costume and dance gestures. With modern material and lighting technology he attempted to achieve an "east meets west" aesthetic blend. Kajiyama also cited the importance of nurturing a creative atmosphere for young designers in his studio by showing some of the young talent's wonderful fantasy artwork.
Nanjing Arts Institute, a well-known Chinese Art school, was represented by Industrial Design Instructor Zhang Ming. Zhang drew his teaching idea from NAI's music school and asked students to design objects by musical influence. A whole series of product design - created under his guidance - was presented, among them a project which took inspiration from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata to create a fluid and elegant 2+1 sports car for the typical one child Chinese family.
The central theme of the conference focused on how to create a suitable shape and image for the Chinese market, not only through interpretation of cultural values but also by creating designs that cater to a fast-paced modern lifestyle. Most participants agreed that carelessly utilizing Chinese elements could backfire but nevertheless, the country's rich cultural heritage is a great source for unlimited creativity. And with China's burgeoning automotive industry, we hope the conference will unleash some of this creativity onto future automotive designs.
Related Stories:
Interior Motives China Conference 2007
Shanghai Motor Show 2007
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