On November 18th, the lecture Made in China Diary—a journey through Chinese manufacturing with ANAÏDE GREGORY STUDIO took place in the Darkroom Lecture Hall, Tongji University. Loads of students in Design and Innovation school, the most promising young generation of industrial designers in China, were attracted into this event. Switzerland is always carrying labels like high quality, elegance, enduring… so it is with the Swiss design. Let’s see how the Swiss design spirit triggers the sparkles of the young Chinese minds.

The event started with the opening speech delivered by Pascal Marmier, vice consul general of Switzerland in Shanghai and CEO of swissnex China. He made a short introduction of ANAÏDE GREGORY STUDIO and our team. Mr. Marmier also is the one who wrote the foreword of Made in China Diary, in which he made an objective and insightful remark on Chinese manufacture industry, and he ended it with “Welcome to the next millennium, welcome to the world of Innovated in China.”

Then the lecturer Gregory Brunisholz, the co-founder of ANAÏDE GREGORY STUDIO presented works they’ve done in the past few years, which mostly were installation art. He showed how those stunning works generate from a simple idea as well as the creating process. Various fabrics were used in their works, which was definitely a new model for peers of industrial design in China.

For the project Made in China Diary, Gregory shared many interesting stories when they were visiting those factories. Pictures and videos were shown to the students, which earned a lot of “wows” among the audience because almost all students there had never been to a real factory before. Gregory encouraged them to visit one and experience the atmosphere by themselves. You cannot create great art when you are restricted to books. That is how things work out.

The lecture turned out to be a triumph. Some student enquired details of studying art in Switzerland after the event. swissnex is willing to support more events like this one to strengthen ties in art field.

*ANAÏDE GREGORY STUDIO was established in 2010. The studio’s work includes product design, exhibition design and visual communication. Led by a state of curious and playful mind, the studio regularly develops self-initiated projects to share their vision freely and independently. They aim at promoting interaction between audiences and suggesting participatory postures.

Made in China Diary is a project initiated by the studio. It is first and foremost a travel log retracing a five-month journey through manufacturing China. Adopting a witty and curious approach, they gaze upon the Chinese economic miracle. Anaïde and Gregory give us a new look at local manufacturing processes. Throughout their journey, they discover how the products and services of tomorrow are made today, exposing the reach of this new model that revolutionizes the way we consume.

- Contributed by Jingyan Yang, Junior Project Leader at swissnex China