Guangzhou Design Week Preview! As you read this I am navigating my way through an adventure of three cities in just six days half way around the world. I’m presenting the Top Western Design Trends to architects, developers, designers and homeowners in China. There is a new upper class that is looking beyond their borders for design inspiration and lifestyle. Opportunities abound!

Asian influence is everywhere! We all know the world is shrinking, borders are blurring, and we enjoy the privilege of global influence in all aspects of design. The biggest contributors to hot and now are China, Russia, India, Morocco and Africa. The Asian aesthetic in particular brings a timeless geometry to spaces bringing order to chaos and edgy to what otherwise might be dull. From Oscar De La Renta to Raymond Waites and Thomas O’Brian the effects of thousands of years of design history are front and center today.

Where do your influences come from? I have to say it was funny when the Chinese interviewed me for a feature in Modern Decoration Home. They had researched me well (I am an online presence!) And they questioned why I wore Chinese clothes (my jacket in many pictures has a Chinese collar), why my cats are named Yin and Yang, and why my interiors seemed to have a Chinese influence (this still confuses me as I don’t see it, but they did!) I’d have to say mine comes from a love of good tailoring (the jacket), a constant search for balance (the Yin and the Yang of life), and a delight in an interior that has geometry as a grounding force. Where do your influences come from? How can you share them for greater success?

Prospering by Design, YOURS!

MG

I was amazed at some of the sights we saw driving about, palm trees dressed in gold lame for decoration. We drove to an artist’s “village” a crowded maze of old and new buildings with a “gate” at the front that is home to many artists. It seemed somewhat deserted and we ambled around for at least an hour on stone streets. We came across a house crafted of oyster shells, and a performance pavilion with stunning gold and black “door ghosts.” We also saw a man hard at work mortaring brick and using an old fashioned bucket and pulley for bringing up the sand for his mortar.

Following our meanderings we headed off to visit the studio of Mr. Cuo, an acclaimed contemporary Chinese interior designer. We were greeted by his assistants and viewed all four floors. His work is reminiscent of Ron Arad, Michael Taylor, and Robert Kuo. It is bold in its shape, peaceful in its simplicity, and timeless by its largely organic nature. He had a stunning collection of fish, mostly carved wood, some ceramic that he had crafted. He shared that the fish is not present in the Chinese calendar of astrology, and he felt that it represented his uniqueness. He also had a collection of toilets, both working and decorative because he said (through the translator) that the invention of the toilet was so incredible and had been impacted by so many other countries that China needed to design a toilet also.

I was honored by his request to sign a book he owned on my great grandfather, Frank Lloyd Wright. And he presented me with a clipping in Chinese regarding Fallingwater that he had hung onto for many years. He also presented each of us with a tiny ceramic cup, hand crafted used to toast with Chinese liquor. It was truly a privilege visiting his studio and viewing his craftsmanship and imagination at work.

Great flight, 747 with only 6 seats across in first class, it was veritably palatial! Service was impeccable and the food good, breakfast totally rocked! I had my choice of Chinese or Western, I played it safe with Western. The flight attendant asked me what “creamy scrambled eggs” were, tough to explain beating an egg when I don’t speak Mandarin and her English was limited. It was a bit of charades. I even got a good 6-8 hours of real sleep in, and caught up on the 20 or so trade and shelter publications I brought on board. Productive, well rested, auspicious start to the trip!

Landed and it took forever to taxi, wet and grey out.The airport was vast and very quiet, no typical US cacophony of cell phones going off upon landing. No customs to navigate either which surprised me must be on departure only. The driver met us and we were at the hotel by 7:45am Guangzhou time.