Baby I Like It Rawr: Open House in Caochangdi
A few months ago, Parsons professor Benjamin Bacon teamed up with Chinese furniture designer Jingjing Naihan Li to launch the RAWR Lab, a cross-disciplinary research platform that nurtures promising talent and collaborates with larger companies to create edgy and innovative products. At last, RAWR is ready to unveil its incredible space, bring together local creatives, and introduce ongoing projects in an Open House event this Saturday, July 21 from 4-6pm.
In the same vein as Beijing Creatives, RAWR welcomes all types of creatives, whether they be designers, techies, makers, photographers, entrepreneurs or interested individuals. However, while RAWR provides a forum for exchanging ideas and inspiration, they also seek to develop them and see if they can be put to practical use.
This weekend’s event features four speakers who will present their work and discuss the future of design and technology in China, followed by a brief audience Q&A. According to RAWR’s press release, “The selection of speakers reflects RAWR’s intent to create a unique confluence of international academic, commercial, industrial and independent design networks: Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Xiaowei Wang works on independent crowd-sourced makers projects, nuandao.com's Yan Zhang builds innovative e-commerce platforms, while Ben Bacon and Fei Jun represent the cutting edge of American and Chinese academic design studies at Parsons The New School for Design and the China Academy of Fine Arts Media Lab respectively.”
Whether you’re familiar with their work or not, their insights ought to provide interesting perspective on Beijing’s bubbling creative scene. Arrive early for drinks, as presentations begin promptly at 4.30pm.
Expect to hear plenty more about RAWR in coming months, as this design incubator is also spearheading many of the events taking place in Caochangdi for Beijing Design Week 2012.
RAWR Lab Open House
Jul 21. Free. 4-6pm. RAWR Lab, Caochangdi (click for map)
Photos: Courtesy of Ben Bacon and RAWR
