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Extracurricular Research Studio "Liu Hai's Dream"

Project: Other

Project Details

Fund Amount (RMB)

8000

Description

"Liu Hai's Dream" explores how a traditional artifact can be reimagined for a future world. Under the guidance of renowned designers, curators, and academics, you will develop groundbreaking concepts along one of three thematic directions:

1. The Neo-Talisman: The Direct Interpretation

Focus: Seamlessly integrating historical artifacts into high-fashion and bio-augmentation.

Scenario: Antique objects become functional tech-accessories—fitted with biometric sensors, micro-diffusers, or neural interfaces—for the ultra-wealthy and bio-hackers seeking unique, conversation-starting wearables.

Research Areas: Wearable tech miniaturization, "haute tech" fashion, the psychology of talismans, bespoke artisanal tech.

2. The Status Dialectic: The Social/Critical Direction

Focus: A critical exploration of the future meaning of luxury, showcasing both its aspirational and dystopian extremes.

Scenario: In a world of climate scarcity, natural-material objects become unimaginably rare and controversial status symbols. Wearing one is a statement of supreme power or a dangerous provocation.

Research Areas: Conspicuous consumption (Veblen), "resource realism" in climate fiction, artifacts and social hierarchy, digital surveillance and "luxury shaming".

3. The Vessel of Self: The Wellbeing Direction

Focus: The object's new role in a future obsessed with mental health, mindfulness, and personal data sovereignty.

Scenario: The snuff bottle is re-adopted for its ritual and tactile nature, serving as a portable focus object for meditation, a container for physical data, or a tool for curated scent therapy.

Research Areas: Mindfulness and tactile grounding, digital wellbeing, olfactory science (aromachology), data ownership and physical storage.

Supervisors:

Mariia Zolotova, Assistant Professor, Industrial Design, XJTLU

Jacob de Baan, Senior Associate Professor, Industrial Design, XJTLU

With Participation From Esteemed International Experts:

Koos de Jong (Initiator)

Marcel Wanders (Renowned Dutch Industrial Designer)

Daniel Kruger (South African Jewelry Designer and Professor)

Ingeborg de Reede (Curator, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam)

Representatives from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in China

Key findings

Speculative Design methodology positions a designer as a facilitator of "design capital," enhancing a community's or an individual's capacity to shape their future.
Visions of "future wealth" were produced as tangible interactive design artifacts inviting for a discussion.
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