On April 28th, as a significant part of this series of events, the Division of Arts at Shenzhen University successfully held an academic symposium on "Design Education Innovation and Sustainable Futures." The conference invited Professor Zhao Chao, Deputy Dean of the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University and a key guest of this year's Shenzhen Design Week, to deliver a keynote speech on "Designing for the Future: International Design Education Laboratories." He engaged in a roundtable discussion on related topics with Professor Luo Ying, Vice Dean of the School of Fine Arts and Design, Division of Arts at Shenzhen University, Professor Wang Fangliang, Professor Chen Zhenwang, and Professor Zhang Yi, as well as Vice Dean Hu Jingxuan from the School of Creative Design at Shenzhen Technology University. Tang Si from the Shenzhen Innovation and Creativity Design Development Office, Party Secretary Zhang Jianbin from the Division of Arts at Shenzhen University, Vice Directors He Qinyang and Zhao Hui from the Division of Arts at Shenzhen University, and Vice Dean Xu Hui from the School of Fine Arts and Design, Division of Arts at Shenzhen University were among the attendees. Following the symposium, the participants engaged in deeper discussions with the exhibiting authors on various innovative design directions.
During the event, Dr. Zhang Jianbin, Party Secretary of the Division of Arts at Shenzhen University, expressed in his speech that this was the first time the Division of Arts at Shenzhen University had participated in Milan Design Week and jointly organized related academic activities. Milan Design Week - China Week is the first "national" section in more than 60 years since the founding of Milan Design Week, signaling an important step for Chinese design on the international stage. Meanwhile, as the first city in China to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Shenzhen bears the mission of leading the "new pattern" and "new development" of urban design innovation in the new era, and Shenzhen University should play an indispensable role in this regard. The speaker also expressed gratitude to the Shenzhen Innovation and Creative Design Development Office, the Shenzhen Design Week Organizing Committee, the Milan Design Week - China Week, and related units and organizations of Shenzhen University for their strong support for this event.
During the keynote speech session of the seminar, Professor Zhao Chao delved into the current status, challenges, and future directions of design education. He first emphasized Shenzhen's leading position in the Chinese design industry and Shenzhen University's contribution to design education. He also mentioned the dual challenges facing design education: undervaluation of design value and the generalization of design concepts. He particularly pointed out the ontology of design discipline, stating that design is a discipline that addresses the interaction between humans and artifacts, with unique characteristics compared to other disciplines. Professor Zhao Chao then proposed how design education should adapt to technological development and social change, discussing the new paradigm of design education. He believed that design education should not only solve problems but also integrate specific technological application scenarios, emphasize the ability of formal construction, and become an important means of knowledge production. Furthermore, in his keynote address, he also discussed the position of design education in universities and how to construct talent training and curriculum systems. Therefore, Professor Zhao proposed that design education should cultivate designers with comprehensive innovative, thinking, expression, and communication abilities, as well as leadership and project management skills in a global context, to address the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. He showcased interdisciplinary and cross-cultural design education practices in the Global Innovation Design program jointly established by Tsinghua University, the Royal College of Art, and Imperial College London. Finally, Professor Zhao shared Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University's practices in design education, focusing on international cooperation projects, social design, intelligent manufacturing, and other areas of exploration. He highlighted case studies and future plans of projects such as the Tsinghua University Academy of Arts and Science Innovation Research and the International Design Education Laboratory, aiming to promote sustainable development of society and industry through design education.
Professor Zhao Chao’s lecture provided profound insights into design education, emphasizing the important role of the design discipline in social change and technological development, as well as the new challenges and opportunities in cultivating future designers through design education. The lecture received enthusiastic feedback from the attending faculty and students.
Subsequently, the participants engaged in a roundtable discussion on relevant topics with Professor Zhao Chao.
For more details, please visit the official WeChat account of the Division of Arts, Shenzhen University.
Division of Arts, Shenzhen University
May 9, 2024
