Cultural Traditions for the Sake of Innovation: the Concept of Scandinavian Design as a Potential Tool in the Development of a Sustainable China

Abstract

ABSTRACTChina is currently undergoing rapid changes on a vast scale in the form of urban development and industrialization based on Western technology. Traditional methods of production have been abandoned, and cultural traditions are being marginalized. In this way not only natural resources, but also habitual ways of living and thereby a meaningful life are threatened. Some of the most important means for the creation of meaning are the objects of everyday life, a fact that makes the field of product design of crucial importance to the development. The question at stake is how cultural traditions can be re‐established and used as an innovative force in product development to secure coherence with the past and the creation of a sustainable yet modern China. The rationale of this article is that interpretations of Scandinavian design might contribute to such a development. The article first discusses the subject of cultural sustainability and the significance of product design. It then presents the history of the concept of Scandinavian design and its relevance as a possible tool in changing today's situation. In addition to historical research it is based on experience from an educational cooperation project between one Chinese and two Norwegian universities, and an investigation of a Norwegian firm's engagement in the country. The findings of the project, which is still in its initial stage, have so far indicated that the concept of what characterizes Scandinavian design has the potential to contribute to product design approaches that can stimulate sustainability. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment