When I visited the Xiangshan campus of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou together with He Jianping for the first time in 2002, it was in the planning stage and consisted of just of a few buildings.
We were shown computer generated visions of the huge new area.
The picture above from September 2002, with He Jianping at left, and Vice President Wu Xiao Hui at right, was entered into the archives of the Academy, as I was the first foreign visitor on the new campus.
When I returned in October 2007, the new buildings had just been finished, and the first students arrived in the classrooms.
After an incredible construction boom in China, during which Shanghai for example was manhattanized, it is interesting and significant that the country's premier art school is now turning to modern chinese architecture.
Local stones and bricks were used in this wall.
The entrance gate of Xianshan campus. See the place on Google Earth.
The Hangzhou government endeavors to build up Culture and Creative Industry Zone in the West Lake district. In geography, it will be united with 64,000 square meters new Xiangshan campus of China Academy of Art located at Elephant Hill in Zhuantang, a suburb of Hangzhou. In majors it gathers all the diverse areas of the creative industry including Plastic Arts, Design, Animation and so on. In architecture it rebuilds the vast preserved area of the old factory in a modern way, constructing a culture program with unique style and vision.
Hesign will cooperate with Hangzhou government of West Lake district in the program
Phoenix Creative International Garden, as well as in hosting Phoenix Creative International
Design Festival. This design festival will be united with the eightieth anniversary of China Academy of Art to hold a series of activities at the same period. Phoenix Creative International
Design Festival will hold the following activities in the rebuilt garden of 2000 m2 on April 6th,
7th and 8th.
Program of the festival
April 6th
Guests will gather in Hangzhou, a welcome dinner will be held.
April 7th
Opening ceremony of the design festival as well as the opening ceremony of the exhibition
will be held in the morning. The exhibition includes:
1. Designer Portraits
Melk Imboden, a Swiss graphics designer, at the same time an influential photographer in
the graphics design area, photographed over three hundred top graphics designers all over
the world for the past decade, with the theme of Design Faces. These works have gradually
become the reference of world graphics design family. This exhibition selects more than 70
graphics designer portraits in his works and each designer provides one original copy of selfselected
best poster design to contribute to this exhibition. (The publishing rights of the dead
designers has been gained through museums and their relatives) Most of the posters in this
exhibition are collected by museums and design organizations throughout the world. Some
of the designers have passed away. Some of the works are eminent masterpiece and all the
works on exhibition are of high value in terms of academic research and collection.
2. Discover Europe
This exhibition gathers the creative fruits of eleven European design companies and designers
from German, France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, and
Belgium. The exhibits covers a range of design, architecture, products, new media, animation,
home furnishings and fashion, and displays the current status and achievements in creative
industry of contemporary Europe.
3. 4 x Troxler
Niklaus Troxler is a contemporary world-class graphic designer as well as the initiator of Swiss
Willisau Jazz musical festival. As a professor in Stuttgart State Art Academy and a worldrenowned
design educator, his students are all over the world. Under his influence, his three
daughters are now working on design. Katrin, the eldest daughter, is a fashion designer.
His second daughter, Annik, is a graphic designer, and Paula, the youngest daughter, is an
illustrator. This exhibition displays his family's works of two generations and four designers.
4. New Generation, an exhibition of Chinese young designers
In the afternoon of April 7th, Phoenix Creative International Design Forum will be held, around eight domestic designers will be invited to give speeches, 30 minutes per person.
- Mr. Niklaus Troxler, Professor from Stuttgart State Art Academy, Germany
- Professor Melk Imboden, president of Swiss AGI, professor of Berlin University of the Arts
- Professor Kan Tai-Kung, the director of Cheung Kong School of Art & Design, Shantou University
- Mr. Freeman Lau, Partner of Kan & Lau Design Consultants. Chairman on the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Design Centre, the Secretary General of the Hong Kong Federation of Design Associations.
- Mr. Apex Lin Pansong, professor of Research Institute of Taiwan Normal University Arts Department, Standing Director of Taiwan Arts Design Association, consultant of Taiwan Graphics Design Association.
- Professor Lorraine Justice, director of Design School of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
- Mr. Hiroshi Tsunoda, DesignCode (Spain)
April 8th
Attend the relevant activities of anniversary of China Academy of Art.