Dezeen stages the new edition of the Dezeen Awards China 2023 to celebrate outstanding projects as best architecture, interiors, and design.
The Dezeen Awards China is the first regional version of the Dezeen Awards that has been commemorated to reward the nation’s outstanding architecture, interior, and design projects. Its accelerated growth currently makes it one of the most attended design awards events in the world and a benchmark for international design excellence.
The awarding of the 17 categories of architecture, interior design, and design will be in charge of a select group of local and international design professionals who collaborate with the development of projects in China.
Below, we will discover who are the main jurors of the new edition of the Dezeen Awards China 2023. We will see how their professional trajectory establishes them as stellar juries of this important award.
Rossana Hu
Hu holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Berkley College, majoring in music, with a master’s degree in architecture and urban planning from Princeton University.
She is co-founder of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office in Shanghai. With her studio, she has created outstanding designs that have irrevocably bridged the gap between East and West. This has allowed her to receive prestigious international awards such as Architizer A+ Awards Jury Winner (2022); Dezeen Awards Architecture Studio of the Year (2021); A+Firm Awards Best Firm (2021); Madrid Design Festival Awards (2020) among many others, including architecture, interior design, product design and graphic design.
Simultaneously to her profession as a designer, she has committed herself to teaching. As a professor, she was appointed Howard Friedman Visiting Professor of Practice at the University of California at Berkeley in 2023. She was a design critic in Architecture in 2019 and 2021 at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She has been appointed Professor in the Department of Architecture at Tongji University in 2021 and Professor in the Department of Architecture at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania.
Frank Chou
Chou is a product designer, curator, and strategic consultant who has collaborated with numerous design brands in Europe and Asia.
Founder and creative director of Frank Chou Design Studio in Beijing, he captures the essence of materials and creates elegant and meaningful design pieces. This makes him today the first designer from mainland China to participate in fashion brand Louis Vuitton’s annual presentation of its Objets Nomades furniture and design collection in 2021.
Chou is also the curator of Talents at Design Shanghai, a program aimed at supporting young designers and pushing design ecology in China, launching the Create Cures public wellness project, which promotes public health through design.
Ilse Crawford
Crawford is an architectural historian from Bedford College and her professional career spans journalism, design, and education.
The British designer is the founder of the London-based design studio Studioilse. In her design studio, she realizes projects ranging from houses to hotels and community projects such as the Ravintola Savoy in Helsinki.
In the realization of her projects, Crawford chooses to address real human needs rather than manufactured ones. The creative has been a pioneer of humanistic design in its real application to environments, objects, and experiences. With this attitude, design can help us to be better human beings, with developments that have a positive mental and environmental impact.
Crawford’s design approach is showcased in the 2017 Netflix docu-series Abstract: The Art of Design.
Her commitment to design goes beyond her interior design projects. This has motivated her to create a new educational project where she opens the doors of her studio to students who learn the design process in a much more experiential way.
Min Chen
Chen is an industrial designer and founder of Chen Min Office in Hangzhou.
He is also the curator of Neooold, an exhibition held annually at Design Shanghai with the aim of crossing the boundaries between design, art, and craft.
He has worked for clients such as jewelry brand Swarovski, sportswear company Nike, fashion house Loewe, coffee shop chain Starbucks, and furniture brands Veneta Cucine among other international brands.
Chen’s works have been exhibited at Milan Design Week, Sotheby’s Gallery, and the Design Museum, and have been included in the permanent collection of the Pompidou Center.
Min was a juror for the Loewe Craft Awards in 2019 and the Dezeen Awards in 2021.
Kelly Wearstler
Wearstler is the founder and director of her interior design studio and art gallery, Kelly Wearstler.
She has a long history in the art world. As a gallery owner, she has collaborated with many artists and designers around the world, creating unique pieces for their projects.
Her most notable projects include the Proper Hotel in Santa Monica, the Proper Hotel in San Francisco, the BG restaurant at Bergdorf Goodman, Viceroy Hotels and Residences, Westfield Century City, and Tides Miami.
Wearstler is internationally recognized with design awards and numerous publications, and is the author of five design books. Furthermore, she is the recipient of Elle Décor’s A-List, Architectural Digest’s AD100, AD France’s AD100, AD Spain Top International Designer, Wallpaper Magazine’s Top 20 Designers, and Time Magazine’s The Design 100.
Also, she is a pioneer in teaching a MasterClass as an interior designer. She is a board member of Desert X, based in California, an event that creates art exhibitions in desert locations through specific large-format installations by renowned international artists.
Among the jurors of the Dezeen Awards China 2023 edition, there are also important designers such as : Kim Airey, Carole Baijings, André Fu, Alma Huang, Garett Hwang, Alex Mok, Ole Scheeren, Zhuo Tan, Li Xiang, Ma Yansong, Michael Young y Ting Yu.