Asian Interior Design Symposium: China

Speaker

• Interior design is a young profession throughout the world, and especially so in China. I want to talk about the special relevance and value of interior design in China.

• Interior design has started to separate itself from architecture. It is an important element in raising the standard of living for people in terms of technology, quality and materials, among other areas.

• Behind the profession is a powerful economic and consumption strength. According to statistics, in 2003 the construction and decoration industry is worth 800 billion yuan, of which 450 billion yuan belongs to home renovation, which is quite an astounding amount.

• This implied the rise of companies dedicated to home renovation as well as increase in related work force.

• It is projected that by 2020, China’s average per capita living space for urban dwellers will be 32 meter square, which means that each year, the growth of new housing in cities will be 700 meters square per year. Over 90% of these dwellings requires interior design, which bodes well for the future of the industry

• Against this economic background, interior design has developed into comprehensive industry, complete with a professional education system to train up qualified professionals

• Prior to the 1980s, there was only one interior design school in China, called the Central Arts and Crafts College

• Nowadays, there are 1280 arts colleges in China, most of which offer courses in environment art design

• Interior design also has its own professional association, the China Institute of Interior Designer, whose membership exceeds 10,000. There are over 1 million practitioners in the industry

• Interior design is a new profession in China, and is distinct from more traditional professions. Many people switched from other fields to become interior designers, including law, finance, architecture, art, industrial design and literature. There are also practitioners who have not had any professional training.

• There are now over 180,000 interior design companies in China

• To cite an example, one company, Tong Yi Ri Xin (東易日盛) was founded in April 1997. It specializes in home renovation. By 2006 its turnover reached 1.3 billion yuan, and by 2007 the company had over 1000 designers and 20 subsidiaries, with over 10,000 site workers. By 2009 its turnover reached 3 billion yuan, and its brand is estimated to be worth 2.022 billion yuan. It now employs over 3000 interior designers. The demand for such services is very large indeed.

• Interior design has now become a big economic force, which is its most important value

• Another related development is the rise of the real estate market. Prior to the 1990s there was no commercial real estate market in China, but now it has become one of the most important economic sectors in the country. For example, when a recent residential property went on sale in Shanxi Province, its sales totaled 5 billion yuan just on the first day. These new housing created a demand for home renovation.

• In Beijing, there are now some 1836 markets devoted to home construction materials, many of which specialize in one or two types of materials like lighting or bathroom supplies.

• For many building materials, demand has already outstripped domestic production, and the country has to rely on imports to fill the need

• The construction industry now employs about 14 million people. This is almost the entire population of a medium sized country. Therefore interior design has come to be a factor in social stability and prosperity

• Interior design practitioners often have to tear down the old to build anew. Through this process of self negation, the interior designer plays a part in stimulating consumption

• In the past, Chinese families had no concept of home renovation, and only of home furnishing. People used to hire a carpenter to make their own furniture. Back then furniture making satisfied people’s living needs. In the 1990s the concept of interior design emerged.

• Today interior design offers Chinese families different types of enticements in the form of show flats and design magazines, which promoted interior design to the masses. Another form of promotion is television, a powerful media that made interior design fashionable

• Interior design plays a big part in maintaining social stability, and provides people with an occupation and a way to occupy their time

• Interior design has profound social significance which is tied in with urbanization, which has a lot of pressure and lowers the quality of life For example, the number of vehicles in Beijing went from 1 million in the 1990s to 5 million now, which leads to traffic congestion. Many people have to drive long distance to work everyday.

• City life brings alienation and spiritual emptiness. In the internet age, communication is mainly through computer screens

• Interior design can help relieve stress and provide an outlet for excess capital

• The inter-personal communication that interior designers offer their clients is very much lacking in society. This sort of communication gives people a chance to discuss their families and life plans.

• I think this is one of the most important contribution that interior design brings. Just as doctors maintain your health and lawyers defend your basic dignity, interior design helps people relieve worries through the offering of a personalized service

• For their part, interior designers obtain a sense of self fulfillment and satisfaction from performing their jobs, as well as a sense of pride, because design is thought to be associated with art and is seen as fashionable

• Through usurping the role of art, design thus receives social recognition, and is accepted by society in general

• Interior design plays a role in raising people’s aesthetic sense. Ordinary people in China, from the time they enter primary school to university, never have the chance to be involved with art unless they study it. The lack of aesthetic sense causes a lot of social problems including our style of governance, our attitude to service and even our personal ethics

• Through a one-on-one relationship, interior design teaches people about life and beauty

• The place that interior design occupies in Chinese society is unique and distinct from the rest of the world

• If interior design were to become an independent profession, the foundation would probably occur in China because of the way it has developed there. That is why many interior designers from all over the world like to come to China to work.