For long, "Made in China" was stereotypical of cheap copies. But an exhibition in Milan dazzles visitors with contemporary Chinese designs, yet made of traditional materials or inspired by old craftsmanship.

The works, from furniture to fashion, are by designers from the Rong (to merge and combine) project run by the Hangzhou Yuhang RONG Contemporary Art and Design Center.

The center launched Rong in 2012. And each year it has collected designers from home and abroad to work on a selected theme. In the past five years the themes have been bamboo, silk, mud, copper and paper. More than 120 designers have contributed to turning those natural and traditional materials into modern products.

The Chinese Traditional Crafts and Material Exhibition in Milan selected 70 pieces for this show.

Zhang Lei, curator of the exhibition and director of the design center, said the Rong project is a way to "deconstruct Chinese craftsmanship and then reproduce" through design.

"There are two engines that drive designers to innovate, one is knowledge, and the other is craft and material," he said.

Along with partners Christoph John from Germany and Jovana Zhang from Serbia, he has created two chairs made of bamboo and other materials.

"Air Chair" has a seat that is simply a grid of wide bamboo strips backed with stainless-steel legs; "Piao" features a seat made of bamboo paper containing bamboo splits, and is with wooden legs.

Product designer Chen Min has layered several pieces of curved long bamboo veneer into a stool, named the Hangzhou Stool.

Each piece is separate at the top but bound at the feet. As each veneer is different in length, they are bent into different sized arc shapes.

"Bamboo is a great material for chairs because it is strong, flexible and breathes", explained Chen.

At the exhibition Italian visitors — many of them designers, gave comments such as "amazing," "unusual," "intense ... interesting materials."

The exhibition lasts until Sunday at Tortona, Via Novi 5, Milan. It is organized by Hangzhou Office of Cultural and Creative Industry, and From Yuhang RONG Design Library.

(Source:ecns.cn)