Jianze and Yatofu, a rising international design talent, recently launched a free dialogue across time zones to discuss the power and mystery of design.


01 A design community that creates together:
Jianze’s belief in fresh and original design,
Continue to attract partners who share the same pursuits

Jianze continues to gather design forces from multiple parties: it collaborates with the well-known industrial designer Chenmin to develop product practices that define categories based on "interaction with users"; Dutch pioneering design group Raw Color builds brand VIS through the symbol "0" and rich colors; Launched diversified design cooperation with well-known Finnish industrial designer Ville Kokkonen and Chinese new generation designer Afa...

Met with space design partner Yatofu Creatives, originating from Yatofu's space works among the "100 Most Influential New Architecture and Interior Design Talents in China" selected by ADChina. Colors or materials pop out unexpectedly and resonate with people's memories and emotions. This is very consistent with Jianze's home products.

Works by Yatofu-Ningbo Bund Post Office

In June 2023, Yatofu co-created the "Dreaming Garden" booth with Jianze on the 10th anniversary of Design Shanghai to explore open interactions between brands, users, and communities. During the communication to establish cooperation, Yatofu admired Jianze's bold attempts and imagination. Jianze's public spaces also "really touch users through design" and bring positive impacts. Both parties are trying to explore and develop in a relaxed way, which inspires a common and abundant desire to create.

Jianze's booth "Dreaming Garden" at Design Shanghai

02 A tale of two cities in design practice:

With an inclusive attitude,
Design dialogue with different cultures

Yatofu was founded in Helsinki, Finland in 2017 and has a branch in Shanghai, China. Team members have life experiences across Europe, Asia and North America, aiming to use a more inclusive attitude to dialogue with a wider audience through design.

Yatofu's studio in Helsinki

Founders: Angela Lindahl, Xiang Yihan

Nordic design, taking Helsinki as an example, pays special attention to humanistic care and equality. Design resources are widely used in all aspects of life, study, and work to make people's daily lives easier and better, and to mutually shape lifestyles and attitudes.

Buildings on the streets of Helsinki

Architecture and interior design: When you buy your own home, the basic facilities such as water, electricity, and flooring are already complete. You can move in with your bags and slowly add the things you like at a comfortable pace.

Helsinki cityscape

Urban design: Everything is within reach. Art and culture lovers can find museums and libraries in every corner of the city, while nature lovers can reach islands or forests within 20 minutes. This natural proximity prevents people from rushing from one place to another.

Social design: In terms of occupations, the tax system prevents excessive disparity in the income of supermarket cashiers, artists or civil servants. In terms of interests, everyone can find a way to make themselves comfortable. Everyone has confidence in life and respects each other.

People at work in Helsinki

Chinese design takes Shanghai as an example. People are constantly searching for fresh spaces and experiences, which in turn prompts the city to update designs of different scales. In the fast-paced process, many temporary popular designs have emerged, which consume resources but do not produce sustainable development.

There is no right or wrong in this. It is this kind of rapid iteration that can trigger people's reflection and lead to some new and interesting phenomena. Jianze is also aware of the constraints of various styles on spatial expression, and is committed to delabeling lifestyles with inclusive and diverse original home furnishings.

03 Find yourself among the differences and polymorphisms:
Get to know different cultures
Find a way of life that feels good to you

Recognizing different possibilities and exploring solutions that all parties feel comfortable with are exactly Yatofu's working methods. This is also very similar to Jianze. From the macro culture to the micro individual, it should not be summarized by one-dimensional stereotypes. To stay close to the fashion at this time, it is better to explore your own characteristics inwardly and start from your interests and values to find the home expression that suits you.

Yatofu at work

The so-called diversity does not mean accepting everything, but letting everyone know that the world has various aspects, and different cultures operate in different ways. Even in the context of globalization, there may be completely different mainstream concepts from here to hundreds of kilometers away. When it comes to space design and home design, it is also feasible to look unaccustomed and not follow fixed patterns.

Perhaps a single labeling can allow users to quickly identify and search and generate conversions, but this will also be too early to be constrained by the so-called style. The biggest challenge in the creative industry is to break away from the continuation of a certain style. From thinking patterns to material and craftsmanship, we are pushing our own boundaries little by little. This is also the diversification of ideas.

Appreciate different materials and techniques

04 Cross-cultural expression requires synesthesia:
in a more relaxed and equal way
Growth understanding and love

Teemaa Tea Space, located in Finland and run by Chinese owners, does not describe much about Chinese culture, but focuses on discussing tea. Too clear symbol reinforcement will make the brand or space lack the fun of exploration.

Tea itself comes from China, so there is no need to emphasize its Chineseness. Through time, human work and cultural influence, tea transforms from a leaf to a lifestyle, which is an ingenious and charming journey of transformation. The space is filled with clay bricks, black iron and other materials that were touched during the tea making process, which brings people a sense of sincerity and simplicity and better reflects the face of tea culture.

Exchanges between cultures should not be expressed through formal and empty language, but through descriptions that everyone can feel and understand. Being too clearly framed in Chinese elements will also limit the objects of communication. In addition to being loved by locals, this tea space also attracts many Asians, because Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. all have different tea cultures, but they can all find their love for tea in the open expression of this space. An essential sense of connection.

Teemaa

Positive cultural representation must be based on a confident and comfortable attitude. Only by communicating in an equal and common language can we develop understanding and love.

The same is true for brand expression. It is enough to start from a small point, influence a small number of people, and bring a better daily life or psychological state. A strong sense of mission will lead to more shackles, while a relaxed spirit will attract relaxed people and pass on this relaxation.

05 Forget that we are a home furnishing store:
Stay away from regular commercial traffic
Create a relaxing space

In the process of building the first physical store with Jianze in Hangzhou Liangzhu Cultural Village, Yatofu tried to answer a question through design: What kind of space will make us like to visit multiple times and feel comfortable and comfortable?

Maybe, let everyone forget that it is a home furnishing store, and everything will fall into place naturally. The final work, based on the concept of "terrace garden", is a familiar relaxing scene. It challenges many inherent ways of thinking through the design and echoes Jianze's redefinition of space.

Terrace garden outside Yatofu office

Jianze is multi-faceted and full, rather than a single one-sided image. What needs to be expressed is not just the product, but also making the brand a living person with its own interests and expertise. Away from conventional commercial traffic, in Birland, which is full of unique community culture, Jize brand stores are being born as a multicultural hub.

Concept map of Jianze's first physical store

06 Design, from the present to the future:
full of uncertainty
and various possibilities

Jianze believes that the concept of space in the future will become more and more blurred. The functions and attributes will not be single, but will be integrated as a whole. The boundaries will be broken, and many parts that are in vain will be abandoned. This conjecture was injected into Jianze's design. Every creation.

"Design always happens in the future tense" is the joint conclusion of Jianze and Yatofu. Design itself is a very emotionally oriented thing. Only by maintaining the yearning for a better lifestyle can we convey the power of positive life. All results will occur in the future, which is full of uncertainty and various possibilities.

People looking at handicrafts

Yatofu very much hopes that there will be a home furnishing brand in China that can last for 100 years like Italy or Northern Europe, continue to exude vitality, transcend time, and attract new generations to identify and join in updates. We hope that Jianze's first-generation recliner will still be used and circulated decades later because people have accepted the value conveyed by Jianze and are living in it. This is of course also Jianze's wish, and we will carry it out as a brand’s daily life until the future.

Yǎng Chair

"Experience more diverse cultures
Communicate with a wider audience
Have a freer lifestyle"
This is the starting point of Yatofu
It is also the destination that Jianze and you share.