The First ‘Design Chongqing’ International Biennale Kicked off

Chongqing- On April 14, the opening ceremony of the 1st “Design Chongqing” International Biennale and the 6th Jinwa Award Ceremony kicked off in a cultural and creative street in downtown Chongqing.

Different exhibitions brought citizens in Chongqing to the world of global latest and most fashionable design trends without leaving the city, including hundreds of masterpieces by domestic and overseas masters, the themed pavilion of RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects, the themed exhibition of Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Centennial Bauhaus, the special exhibition of Spain EMBT, as well as the themed exhibition of Chongqing Centennial Architectural History.

With the theme of R-EVOLUTION and the vision of Design Awakening of a City, this biennale in Jiangbei District was initiated by the Jinwa Award and the Bystander Think Tank. It was co-organized by Chongqing Architecture and Interior Design Federation, RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects, the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Chongqing University, Sichuan Fine Art Institute, and Design Spine Research Institute. The exhibition is a collection of high-quality works, including the representative works of design masters, such as Pritzker Prize judges, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and so on, and the latest works, such as Clichy-Montfermeil Metro Station in Paris, Naples Central Metro Station in Italy, and so on. In addition to the exhibition, there were also splendid activities in this biennale.

Besides, the RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects also launched a themed pavilion at this biennale. It contains the institute’s 188-year retrospective display, international academician theme exhibition, cross-border youth creativity exhibition, and works from 88 people. This themed pavilion allowed the audience to have a romantic encounter with England and appreciate the achievements of a century of architectural art.

The themed exhibition of Chongqing Centennial Architectural History showed Chongqing's opening as a port in 1891 to the time of the 2021 Cuntan International Cruise Port International Design Competition. Audiences appreciated character profiles as well as masterpieces and major events in architecture history during the past 130 years, enjoying the century-old elegance of Chongqing's architecture and its changes over time.

The 6th Jinwa Award Ceremony was also held at the opening ceremony of the biennale. A total of 1,367 works were received this year, an increase of 45% over the previous edition. After evaluation by experts, a total of 54 sets of works won awards.