Emerging Asian designers shaping trends in furniture, product and interior design share what makes them tick in new book
- ‘Design in Asia: The New Wave’ features 97 designers from across the region reflecting on their backgrounds, inspirations and processes
- Hong Kong’s Michael Leung, China’s Furong Chen and Singapore’s Hans Tan are among those co-author Suzy Annetta believes are stand-outs
When Hong Kong-based Australian designer and publisher Suzy Annetta wondered what differences and similarities emerging young designers in Asia possessed, she decided to find out what makes them tick.
The project took her to places from Beijing to Bali, from Mumbai to Manila, seeking the people and approaches shaping trends in furniture, product and interior design. The result is Design in Asia: The New Wave, a book profiling the work of 97 talented and diverse individuals at varying stages of their careers.
The project was inspired by six years of travel, mostly in Asia, sourcing stories for the print magazine Design Anthology (DA), which Annetta runs with her business partner and ex-husband Phil Annetta with editions in Asia, Australia and the UK.
They were excited by the designers they encountered and realised there wasn’t a book that was showcasing what was happening in the region. “We thought it would be interesting to replicate these conversations we were having,” she says.
Aric Chen, design and architecture curator-at-large at Hong Kong’s M+ museum, and curatorial director of Design Miami, helped shortlist some of the other designers featured. The selection criteria took into account their age – most are in their 20s to 40s – their body of work to date, and who they had collaborated with.