Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

LOCALS will have a chance to see the world’s first 3-D printed car at the first China International Industrial Design Fair to be held Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 at Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.

Organized by the Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association (SIDA), the fair will exhibit more than 5,000 products from 100 companies spanning 20 countries and regions. World-renowned designers will also attend the fair, which will include workshops, forums and lectures. The fair, expected to attract over 150,000 visitors, will showcase low-carbon design innovations, new materials and new technology.

The most anticipated exhibit will be the Urbee 2, the lozenge-shaped car made mostly by way of 3-D printing. Designed by Jim Kor and his team, Urbee stands for “urban, electric, ethanol.”

The Urbee 2 is a three-wheeled hybrid, weighing about 544 kilograms and capable of about 70 mph. It took Kor 2,500 hours to upload the models for each part into the printers and assemble all the plastic parts into a car. The Urbee 2 is powered by a single-cylinder 7 HP engine, using either diesel or ethanol and networked batteries powering two electric motors that produce the equivalent of 16 HP at peak output. The chassis and framing consist of chrome-moly steel tubing, making the car strong enough to meet — or even exceed — road-worthy safety standards. Kor, who will come to Shenzhen for the fair, said his aim is to make the cars of the future: light, energy-efficient and easy to manufacture.

The exhibits at the fair were selected by a board led by Ralph Wiegmann, managing director of iF International Forum Design GmbH in Germany. The board members are Lee Soon-in, president of the Seoul Design Center as well as the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, Freeman Lau, vice chairman of the board of directors of Hong Kong Design Center, Lorraine Justice, dean of the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences of Rochester Institute of Technology, He Renke, dean of School of Design of Hunan University, Italian designer Stefano Giovannoni, Finnish designer Tapani Hyvonen and Tony Chang, CEO of Taiwan Design Center.

Italy, the United States, France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, South Korea and Canada will all have their own pavilions. Visitors can admire the simple but modern Danish and Swedish designs, environmentally friendly South Korean products and inspirational 3-D products from Britain.

World-renowned designers, including U.S. industrial designer and interior architect Karim Rashid and German Luigi Colani, will also exhibit their unconventional designs, presenting an exploration of how boundaries between designer, manufacturer and consumer are becoming increasingly blurred. Rashid’s designs include luxury goods, furniture, lighting, surface design, brand identity and packaging. Time magazine has described him as the “most famous industrial designer in all the Americas.” He has won more than 40 awards, including the George Nelson Award in 1999, the Canadian Designer of the Year award in 2001 and the Red Dot Design Award in 2012.

Colani designed cars for companies, such as Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Volkswagen and BMW. In the 1960s, he began designing furniture, and since the 1970s he has expanded in numerous areas, ranging from household items such as ballpoint pens and television sets to uniform, trucks and entire kitchens. The prime characteristics of his designs are rounded, organic forms, which he terms “biodynamic” and are meant to be ergonomically superior to traditional designs.

The fair will also showcase award-winning Shenzhen designs, such as winners of the iF Product Design Award, Red Dot Award, Good Design Award and IDEA Awards. Visitors can register at the fair’s website www.szidf.com for free admission or buy tickets at the fair.

1. The Urbee 2, a lozenge-shaped car made mostly by way of 3-D printing designed by Jim Kor and his team.

2. Space Time is a lamp designed by Karim Rashid for Swedish lighting manufacturer Zero. It is an organically shaped pendant lamp with large perforations, making the surface area of the shade minimal.

3. Beoplay A8, a modern stereo center, designed by Danish designer David Lewis.

4. German designer Luigi Colani.

5. Ralph Wiegmann, managing director of iF International Forum Design GmbH in Germany.

6. Italian designer Stefano Giovannoni.

7. Original Green Cup designed by Ecojun company from South Korea.

8. A 3-D printed porcelain lamp designed by D2W company from Britain.

Photos by courtesy of SIDA