{"id":133423,"date":"2025-10-20T07:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/133423\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T07:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:14:09","slug":"meet-duyi-han-the-shanghai-born-designer-selected-for-apples-designers-of-tomorrow-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/133423\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Duyi Han, the Shanghai-born designer selected for Apple\u2019s Designers of Tomorrow initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Duyi Han is rarely overwhelmed by digital technology \u2013 because he\u2019s native to it. \u201cThough you can still scroll too much,\u201d he laughs. \u201cThe [digital world] has allowed me [to] research, edit, experiment and render my ideas about visual culture. Without it I would have to [spend] a lot of time in libraries. And I already don\u2019t feel like I have enough time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aptly enough for an artist and designer who is often immersed in screens, 31-year-old Han is one of just four recently selected by Apple\u2019s Designers of Tomorrow initiative, which spotlights emerging designers who makes technology a central part of their process. (The use of an iPad is required.) He has been offered the opportunity to present his work at this week\u2019s Design Miami.Paris, an offshoot of the international design fair in the French capital. \u201cOf course, that\u2019s pretty exciting,\u201d he says, \u201cthough I kind of expected that they\u2019d select me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OrdinanceOrdinance of the Subconscious Treatment, by Duyi Han (2021-2022). Photo: Handout<\/p>\n

If Apple is the archetype of the contemporary tech brand, Shanghai-born Han is perhaps the archetype of the contemporary, category-bending designer, slipping easily between objects and installations, tactile high craft and AI-empowered virtual imaginings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really think about the question of whether I\u2019m more a designer or an artist,\u201d says Han. He actually trained in architecture at Cornell University, before later taking up a position with the prestigious Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron. \u201cWhat I do is, for me, like architecture, just not what most people think of as being architecture. It\u2019s more about how I can bring my visual culture research into the work. Sometimes that\u2019s as a physical object, and at other times it\u2019s more of an artwork. Most of the process is research.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VisionsVisions of Bloom by Duyi Han (2024). Photo: Handout<\/p>\n

The results run the gamut from intricately coordinated, characteristically pastel-hued, immersive scenes akin to set design, to orchestrations of various objects. This includes murals, furniture, graphics, foam sculptures, wallpaper and hand-embroidered textiles. \u201cAnd I often hate all the sewing,\u201d says Han, though he does it all himself. \u201cOn the one hand, I enjoy the sense of precision I get from using a sewing machine, and on the other hand sewing on silk is all very labour intensive. You have to be so careful. You can\u2019t skip any step. But at least it makes you value craft in a digital world.\u201d<\/p>\n

One work comprised completely making over an Airbnb flat in Jiangnan to produce a hospital ward-like live-in art experience \u2013 an Artbnb. Another blends symbols of Qing dynasty luxury with 3D protein molecule models. His work is hard and soft, both hi-tech and playing with age-old traditions.<\/p>\n

\"OrdinanceOrdinance of the Subconscious Treatment, by Duyi Han (2021-2022). Photo: Handout<\/p>\n

What connects such a diverse output? That\u2019s something Han calls \u201cneuroaesthetic prescriptions\u201d \u2013 neuroaesthetics being the study of how visual arts, music and dance affect the human brain and cognition. He\u2019s an avid taker of photos on his phone, and is fascinated by what emotions and impressions that visual content evokes in the viewers. \u201cDifferent visual cues have different meanings and values. They carry the spirit of the times [in which they were created], but also have a relevance to current times,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Duyi Han is rarely overwhelmed by digital technology \u2013 because he\u2019s native to it. \u201cThough you can still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[2786,79,381,179,18,4202,19,17,3521,5,2336,19453,119,82,107,65],"class_list":{"0":"post-133423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-china","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-hong-kong","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-lifestyle","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-opinion","19":"tag-south-china-morning-post","20":"tag-sport","21":"tag-technology","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}