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Designer eyes on lofty green goals
By Yang Di |
June 27, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AS things change quickly, certain trends are sure to be particularly important over the coming years. There is no denying the most exciting and important trend in design sectors worldwide is an increased sensitivity to environment sustainability and "green" products are top-of-mind for consumers. We'll see more design products using sustainably sourced or recycled materials, maintaining ease of use while not giving up on complex features. Designers committed to the green principle are making efforts to be more creative, to blend with our ideas to support the environment.
Nurturing the environment in the design process is not a fashion, it has no less lofty a goal than saving the earth. Using environmentally responsible materials and products is a healthy choice for your family and for the planet. In this section we highlight three shops that incorporate environmental awareness into their design aesthetic.
Y-Town's eco plastics
Greenpeace China initiated the project "Book Lovers for Forests" in 2008 to promote sustainable green publishing and retaining the forests. The environmental campaigning organization has recently invited product designer and founder of Y-Town, Jamy Yang, to create a bookshelf and imaginative merchandise for bookstores. His brand philosophy -- rethink, redesign and reuse -- is the basis of the creation of the bookshelf, made of cardboard paper, which enhances the idea of using recyclable paper to balance against tree-planting. Y-Town has been defining its experimental and avant-garde identity via attention to everyday life, material aesthetics and social responsibility. Its new collection "Jiu Jie," a Chinese expression for intertwined, uses eco-plastic material composed of entangled colorful lines, a process traditionally only used in synthetic carpets. The material is used by Y-Town in everyday items.
Opening hours: 10am-9:30pm
Address: Point to Life, Shop 9101, Block 9, The Bridge 8, 8-10 Jianguo Rd M.
Tel: 6137-9300
Shokay develops yak fiber use
Two socially conscious young Harvard graduate students, Marie So and Carol Chyau, founded Shokay in 2006 and set up shop on Taikang Road. As a socially responsible manufacturer, it has a collection of eco-friendly children's clothing, adult accessories and home decor products made from renewable resources such as bamboo and a new arrival to the global textile scene, natural, hand-combed yak down fiber. It is a soft, high-quality textile that until 2006 was an untapped resource. So and Chyau recognized early a use for yak down, the material that yaks naturally shed during the summer in the mountainous regions of western China. Purchasing raw fiber is a zero pollution activity and will help prevent problems such as overgrazing. They source yak down fiber from more than 2,000 nomadic herders in Qinghai Province and weave it into elegant children's clothes, throws, scarves and pillows. It enables Tibetan herders to plan a long-term sustainable living while preserving their traditions. Also, they've set up a knitting cooperative aimed at giving women more income opportunities.
Opening hours: 10am-8:30pm
Address: No. 9 Lane, 274 Taikang Rd
Tel: 5466-0907
Nest harbors responsible design companies
Nest is one of the first retail destinations in the city that celebrates a "design with a conscience" concept. The 100-square-meter loft space hidden in a factory above the busy lanes of Tianzifang showcases exclusive product lines from a group of young companies producing in China, each in their own way promoting a better and more humane world. A total of seven brands joining Nest offer contemporary, unique product design, high-quality craftsmanship and, more importantly, responsible manufacturing. It means the materials used are natural, renewable or recyclable, and the product creation process has a low impact on the environment or there are distinct social advantages benefiting people in the country.
Opening hours: 10am-6pm
Address: Rm 201, Bldg 3, 210 Taikang Rd
Tel: 6466-9524
Nurturing the environment in the design process is not a fashion, it has no less lofty a goal than saving the earth. Using environmentally responsible materials and products is a healthy choice for your family and for the planet. In this section we highlight three shops that incorporate environmental awareness into their design aesthetic.
Y-Town's eco plastics
Greenpeace China initiated the project "Book Lovers for Forests" in 2008 to promote sustainable green publishing and retaining the forests. The environmental campaigning organization has recently invited product designer and founder of Y-Town, Jamy Yang, to create a bookshelf and imaginative merchandise for bookstores. His brand philosophy -- rethink, redesign and reuse -- is the basis of the creation of the bookshelf, made of cardboard paper, which enhances the idea of using recyclable paper to balance against tree-planting. Y-Town has been defining its experimental and avant-garde identity via attention to everyday life, material aesthetics and social responsibility. Its new collection "Jiu Jie," a Chinese expression for intertwined, uses eco-plastic material composed of entangled colorful lines, a process traditionally only used in synthetic carpets. The material is used by Y-Town in everyday items.
Opening hours: 10am-9:30pm
Address: Point to Life, Shop 9101, Block 9, The Bridge 8, 8-10 Jianguo Rd M.
Tel: 6137-9300
Shokay develops yak fiber use
Two socially conscious young Harvard graduate students, Marie So and Carol Chyau, founded Shokay in 2006 and set up shop on Taikang Road. As a socially responsible manufacturer, it has a collection of eco-friendly children's clothing, adult accessories and home decor products made from renewable resources such as bamboo and a new arrival to the global textile scene, natural, hand-combed yak down fiber. It is a soft, high-quality textile that until 2006 was an untapped resource. So and Chyau recognized early a use for yak down, the material that yaks naturally shed during the summer in the mountainous regions of western China. Purchasing raw fiber is a zero pollution activity and will help prevent problems such as overgrazing. They source yak down fiber from more than 2,000 nomadic herders in Qinghai Province and weave it into elegant children's clothes, throws, scarves and pillows. It enables Tibetan herders to plan a long-term sustainable living while preserving their traditions. Also, they've set up a knitting cooperative aimed at giving women more income opportunities.
Opening hours: 10am-8:30pm
Address: No. 9 Lane, 274 Taikang Rd
Tel: 5466-0907
Nest harbors responsible design companies
Nest is one of the first retail destinations in the city that celebrates a "design with a conscience" concept. The 100-square-meter loft space hidden in a factory above the busy lanes of Tianzifang showcases exclusive product lines from a group of young companies producing in China, each in their own way promoting a better and more humane world. A total of seven brands joining Nest offer contemporary, unique product design, high-quality craftsmanship and, more importantly, responsible manufacturing. It means the materials used are natural, renewable or recyclable, and the product creation process has a low impact on the environment or there are distinct social advantages benefiting people in the country.
Opening hours: 10am-6pm
Address: Rm 201, Bldg 3, 210 Taikang Rd
Tel: 6466-9524
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