11:30 AM: Press conference

It was fitting that the press conference for a trade show conceived to spur the growth of Chinese design was accompanied by, ahem, the din of construction noise. At one point, I could barely hear Dutch design superstar (and keynote speaker) Richard Hutten over the echo of power tools in the neighboring hall, where another show was being installed. But never mind…no one seemed to care, distracted as we were by the prospect of witnessing firsthand the birth of a national design movement. I think Richard best summarized the group’s collective enthusiasm in his closing remark—“I love Shanghai!”—which was met with thunderous applause and hoots. He got almost as many catcalls as the press conference emcee, Andrew Yang—former Architect’s Newspaper editor turned Shanghai design celebrity—who’s largely responsible for bringing this show to life.

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Richard Hutten