Innovation Helps Oriental Design Rise 

—— Professor Zhou Wuzhong, Director of Innovative Design Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Talking about the New Development of Design Discipline

   The report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China points out that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the main contradictions in our society have been transformed into the contradictions between the people's growing need for a better life and the unbalanced and inadequate development. How to carry out the spirit of the Nineteenth National Congress is an important subject for the development of design discipline in the future. Recently, Professor Zhou Wuzhong, Director of Innovation and Design Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University, told Shanghai Science and Technology Daily that we need to integrate multi-disciplines to form a group of "innovative design" disciplines, so that Oriental design can go to the world and develop hand in hand with Western design.

Enter the new era of Oriental design rising.

 "People used to talk more about Western design and Eastern manufacturing. Now, this situation is gradually changing. Zhou Wuzhong introduced that Oriental design, represented by China, is rising. Nowadays, western design often incorporates Chinese elements, and such design works often have a good market performance.

 With the development of China's economy, the world influence of Chinese culture is also rising. Shanghai Jiaotong University sponsored the Oriental Design Forum in 2015 and has held three consecutive sessions so far, which has become a brand event in the design industry. The forum plans to start adding activities of "Oriental Design Grand Prix" in 2018, and the Grand Prix will be launched in the near future.

  On the third day after the nineteen great opening of the party, the third Oriental Design Forum and 2017 International Seminar on "one belt and one road and Oriental design" were held at Shanghai Jiaotong University. Professor Zhou Wuzhong, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the forum and chairman of the international design science society, said that the purpose of the forum is to solve the cultural communication problems between the countries along the route, and to resolve the cultural obstacles along the way. If Chinese cultural elements are melted into porcelain and circulated in the world, they will be easily accepted by people all over the world. It can spread Chinese culture sensibly and visually with tangible objects, which will have the effect of moistening things silently.

He gave a report entitled "The Significance of Oriental Design for the Inheritance and Innovation of Chinese Civilization" at the forum. He believed that the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to "promote the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent traditional culture", pointing out the direction for the characteristic development of the design discipline. He said that Mr. Qian Xuesen, the old scholar of Shanghai Jiaotong University, has always advocated the combination of science and art. "Oriental Design" should combine the oriental culture centered on the excellent traditional culture of China with the innovative design means of integrating modern scientific and technological achievements, form the theoretical system, practical system and evaluation system of Oriental design, and strive to develop it into the characteristics of Jiaotong University's design discipline.

  Write design papers on the ground

Design is an inherent practice of human beings, with attractive prospects for development. With the advent of the era of "big design", the role and influence of design in human life are everywhere. A good life needs a good environment and good products. Design objects range from pots and pans to large aircraft projects, from tables and chairs to sofas to high-rise buildings, from flower border design to national parks, from mobile phone interface to network communities, from shoes and socks to wearable equipment...

With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, simple greening has been far from meeting the needs of the public for the environment, people should rest in the garden green space, but also meet the spiritual aesthetic needs. This requires landscape designers and builders to have a higher artistic taste and aesthetic accomplishment, which requires the intervention of art to form a trinity of agronomy, architecture and art.

  Zhou Wuzhong has always advocated the planning and design of respecting nature, culture and people, advocating the harmony of production, life and ecology. He has been in charge of the development planning of leisure and vacation tourism in Nanjing, the tourism planning of Philanthropy Park and Tiandi Science Park in Zhongshan Scenic Spot of Nanjing, and Shugang, Yangzhou, the famous scenic spot of Slender West Lake. In order to protect the environment and advocate the ecology in the planning, the construction planning of the scenic spots, the planning and design of the Tiandi tourist resort in Huangshan New Hui, and the formulation of the general planning of the modern cultural tourist resort in Nanjing Laoshan are carried out. For this reason, he has twice been on the gold list of China's environmental protection reputation sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Environmental Protection Association and other units.

 A designer's responsibility is to have a strong sense of social responsibility. In 2012, Zhou Wuzhong led the students to do the first project in Shanghai, including the Bund Landscape Design Research Project. Through the research, it is found that there is a lot of room for improvement in the design of these places. In recent years, some hydrophilic platforms in the landscape have not been designed to look good. Comparing with the "Code for Park Design", there are potential safety hazards, and fences with specified standards should be set up in public places. The state attaches great importance to the project responsibility of the planner and designer, which not only urges everyone to have a sense of responsibility, but also promotes everyone to improve the level of business opportunities.

  Formation of "Innovative Design" Subject Group

Design is a special art subject with innovative value, which lies between philosophy, humanities, engineering and other technological sciences. "Innovative design" refers to a kind of practical activity that gives full play to the creativity of designers, uses the relevant scientific and technological achievements of human beings to carry out innovative ideas, and designs scientific, creative, innovative and practical results. On May 11, 2016, the Center for Innovative Design (International Service) of Shanghai Jiaotong University was approved as the first batch of key construction projects of national double-creation demonstration base. On the 121th anniversary of Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2017, the Center for Innovative Design of Shanghai Jiaotong University was established. Two months later, the First-class Discipline Construction Scheme of Innovative Design passed the school demonstration. With design as the center, the discipline group of "innovative design" driven by "design and industry" and "design and environment" has come out fresh, and Jiaotong University's design has entered the era of large-scale design.

  A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution is developing vigorously, with the increasing demand for diversified markets and individualized consumption of material and culture, and the increasing challenges for human beings to cope with the pressures of resources and environment, health and sustainable development. Technological innovations such as interconnection, real-time sensing, VR/AR, AI and 3D printing are changing with each passing day. The development of design discipline provides a rare historical opportunity.

 The 13th Five-Year Plan is a critical period for the adjustment, transformation and upgrading of China's industrial structure. Vigorously developing innovative design is an important breakthrough for China's manufacturing industry to achieve leapfrogging from tracking and imitation to leading, from the low-end of the global value chain to the high-end level. Design 4.0 requires cross-border integration of new knowledge such as science and technology, economy and society, humanities and arts, ecological environment, analysis and understanding of the scientific methods and computing capabilities of large data, and more importantly, the ability to design and build a network and mechanism for co-creating and sharing platforms.

The subject group of "innovative design" which is being formed in Shanghai Jiaotong University is an interdisciplinary subject which takes design as the main subject, architecture and landscape architecture as the supporting subject, relying on the advantages of mechanical engineering, management science and engineering, computer science and technology, ecology and other disciplines. It spans five disciplines, namely, art, engineering, agriculture, management and science, and combines the multiple attributes of art, science, technology, humanities, society and commerce. It is the most innovative subject group.

 Zhou Wuzhong said that innovative design needs a global perspective, integrating international advanced design concepts, knowledge, technology and culture. Design disciplines of Jiaotong University focus on five disciplines: design theory and method, product and intelligent design, visual and information design, space design and management, sustainable environmental design. The connotation and extension of innovative design are further extended to the fields of Humanities and society, and high standard construction is required by world-class disciplines in order to lead the way. The development of accounting discipline contributes to social development and human prosperity.