Announcement of our 2020 Design Trust Milestone Portfolio

Design Trust is proud to share that since 2014, our platform has supported over 125 grantees and fellows to date and benefiting over 42,100 members of the public directly through our programmes, workshops and exhibitions. Over the years our community has also expanded with over 120 mentees, mentors, advisors and collaborators. 2020 has been a critical time to reflect, review, and respond. For months, our team has been putting together a publication that documents past achievements and our grantees’ impactful works. In the lead up to the online launch (more details to be shared), this quarter we look back on the innovative works by our recent Grantees that focus on bringing about positive change in communities.

DESIGN TRUST: Critically Homemade exhibition with our Milestone books and Critically Homemade books on display

Featured grant stories this quarter include: Toby Lam’s “Slow Stitch”; Zheng Qiu and his team at DEMO Studio explore new models and solutions that can mitigate the challenges faced in Foshan, China; and “IN/SITU”, an exhibition by Donn Holohan.

Toby Lam’s "Slow Stitch" project endeavours to preserve and popularise basic sewing skills through online to offline tutorials, cultivating and interacting with the public on the process of clothes making. The project envisions a sustainable alternative to making and researching. Through a year-long series of workshops and repair services, interactive activities, talks with local communities and an exhibition, the project encourages a public re-evaluation of the value of craftsmanship.

Toby is currently working with St. James Settlement on a public engagement programme to be staged at the historic Blue House. The neighbouring community will be invited to take part in an interactive art project as well as discussions on re-fashioning and re-designing, in the context of the building’s heritage. Toby will also be extending the reach of her “Slow Stitch project” with a series of online and offline workshops in collaboration with university students, which will culminate in an exhibition planned for next year.

Toby Lam’s "Slow Stitch" project endeavours to preserve and popularise basic sewing skills through online to offline tutorials, cultivating and interacting with the public on the process of clothes making.

Zheng Qiu and his team at DEMO Studio explores new models that can mitigate the challenges in the current shifts in the international and local domestic landscape, Beijiao, an industrial town located in Foshan, China, which is facing great challenges with its vast number of traditional small scale manufacturers of household appliances.

Through analyses on local policies, histories and understanding of the characteristics of these local businesses, Zheng Qiu and his team at DEMO Studio aims to provide solution references for the traditional manufacturers, culminating in a series of writing, images, videos and products that were presented to the public through workshops, a publication and an exhibition.

As part of the International Furniture Fair in Guangzhou, the team was also able to discuss their project and share insight on the Beijiao industrial landscape with other manufacturers, distributors and industry experts, with an aim to promote the manufacturing industry in Beijiao, as well as provoke policy change and academic discussion on the topic.

Through analyses on local policies, histories and understanding of the characteristics of these local businesses, Zheng Qiu and his team at DEMO Studio aim to provide solution references for the traditional manufacturers

Donn Holohan’s exhibition “IN/SITU” details his research on China’s vernacular architecture.

Spanning over five years, Holohan’s research brought him to the village of Peitian, Fujian, where he worked with local craftsmen, HKU student volunteers, and villagers on a series of experimental structures and architecture, including the highly acclaimed Sun Room and the Wind and Rain Bridge. Combining age-old techniques and materials native to the region, with methodologies such as digital design and robotic fabrication, Holohan’s project proposes a model of conservation and construction where traditional craftsmanship is updated through reinterpretation and modern technologies.

To extend the impact of this project, a “Living Museum”, which Design Trust has supported, was constructed at the village in 2019 to provide a platform for knowledge exchange, where crafts and skills can be disseminated, promoted and updated as well as shared amongst students, teachers, villagers and the academic community.

Donn Holohan’s exhibition “IN/SITU” details his research on China’s vernacular architecture.

For Design Trust, 2020 has been a critical time to reflect, review, and respond. During these critical times, we are proud to keep playing our part in funding design projects with community and social impact. We will continue to prioritise our grants and programmes that support emerging designers and research on urgent topics, and continue advocating for the positive role of design. The DESIGN TRUST: MILESTONE PORTFOLIO will be made available to the public in November 2020.