China Environmental Consciousness in Design

Environmental consciousness originates from human beings’ reliance, respect, and resistance toward nature. It is a trace left in human consciousness by nature and society, and it affects human behavior. In the long history of human civilization, human beings have always followed hints of this trace to carry out their activities. After the Industrial Revolution, it was believed that human beings were totally capable of changing the nature of the world, which directly led to the weakening of environmental consciousness, and finally resulted in bad consequences. Today, humans are beginning to realize the significance of environmental consciousness, and are trying to transform development methods by using it as a guide. In this exhibition, we hope to highlight this concept, summarize the performance and influence of hidden environmental consciousness in design, promote designers’ attention to it, and lead them to follow its laws in practice, ultimately changing the way of design in the future. Tsinghua University; Tongji University, College of Design and Innovation; and Shanghai University, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts explain and perform the theme from three mutually related aspects: family, community, and nature. The subtopics are “Where Are We From?,” “Development and Change of Chinese Family,” “To design and Innovate, for Eco-Restoration and a better world,” and “Design between the Forward and Backward: The Case of Chonming Eco-Island, Shanghai."