Shanghai fair attracts do-it-yourself interior designers

As top global design brands gathered in Shanghai last week for the launch of Design Shanghai, the city's 10,000 square metre Exhibition Centre proved a well-chosen location, with vast domed halls providing an elegant backdrop for the 150 design brands setting up temporary home, and an enormous forecourt for the 50,000 visitors who queued outside.

Originally intended by British organisers Media Ten to attract local interior designers, architects and developers with a mixture of household products in contemporary, classic and collectible halls, the show also enticed a significant number of Shanghainese interested in interior design for their own homes.

"We were confident that China was ready for such an event, but the turnout and level of engagement are testament to an evolving Chinese design consciousness and appreciation of finely crafted merchandise," say Ross Urwin and Darrel Best of Infrastructure, the inaugural exhibition's creative curators.

Exhibitors agreed, reporting particular interest in products showcasing craftsmanship and quality materials. British furniture artist John Makepeace's chest of three carved and hinged "cushions" drew especially keen attention after visitors learned it was made of precious ripple sycamore, a wood normally reserved for violins.

"I've been very pleasantly surprised by the level of interest in how the pieces are made and what makes them special," says Makepeace, who also presented a striking pair of marquetry cabinets, called the Zebra, made in white holly and black oak with scarlet lacquered interiors.

There was also considerable interest surrounding Danish contemporary furniture and accessories brand HAY, with their range of covetable household items including storage boxes and glassware.

"I'm not sure if there is an actual thirst for a particular type of design," says Chief Designer Rolf Hay, "but the entire city is more and more affected by Western culture and I think that this has awoken a curiosity in the Chinese consumer. I believe they are much more interested and open towards foreign designers and the ideas they bring with them."