HONG KONG — Following almost another year filled with disruption, major shifts are emerging across industries. How to prepare for ongoing transformations and learn to better ride the wave of the new normal requires, among other things, decisive leadership, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and boundless creativity inspired by human-centred design.
Drawing on the essence of inclusivity, sustainability, and design and technology, Asia’s premier annual event on design, innovation and brands since 2002, Business of Design Week (BODW) organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) gathers some of the world’s foremost design masters, brand leaders and entrepreneurs from Hong Kong as well as overseas, driving discourse on the value of design and innovation to inspire global audiences.
With the UK and ViuTV as strategic partners this year, the weeklong BODW provides the opportunity for global business and creative leaders to exchange insights, interact, and explore opportunities for collaboration. The theme of BODW 2021 is Global Design Reset, underlining this remarkable period that is bearing witness to significant change across various industries all over the world. Leading entrepreneurs, creatives, and designers from different sectors will shine a light on how we can thrive amid challenges, co-create a sustainable future, and make a meaningful impact through design.
Following last year’s success, the BODW 2021 Summit on 1 – 4 December 2021 will be held as a hybrid programme, simulcast live on ViuTV, online, social media, and at partner locations. The Summit explores eight main pillars of topics: Brand Rejuvenation, Connected Health and Wellbeing, Creative Mindset & Innovation Leadership, Culture & the City, Designing an Intelligent Future, Hospitality with Purpose, New Urban Models, and Phygital Reality.
The key speaker line-up of this year’s Summit includes:
- Ascan Mergenthaler, Senior Partner of Herzog & de Meuron (Switzerland)
- Bruce Mau, Chief Executive Officer of Massive Change Network and Founder of Bruce Mau Studio (US)
- Bill Bensley, Founder & Interior Designer of BENSLEY (Thailand)
- Brian Yiu, CEO of Fila China (Mainland China)
- David Schonthal, Clinical Professor and Director of Entrepreneurship Programs, Kellogg School of Management; and book author of The Human Element: Overcoming the Resistance that Awaits New Ideas (US)
- Eric Quint, former Chief Brand and Design Officer of 3M, and book author of Design Leadership Ignited: Elevating Design At Scale (The Netherlands)
- Francine Houben, Founding Partner of Mecanoo (The Netherlands)
- Freeman Lau, Founder of KL&K Creative Strategics (HK)
- Jason Bruges, Director of Jason Bruges Studio (UK)
- Jonathan Cheung, Advisor of GAP Inc. (US)
- Li Hua, Founder & Principal of Trace Architecture Office (Mainland China)
- Lofai Lo, Director & General Manager of ViuTV (HK)
- Martin Darbyshire, CEO of tangerine (UK)
- Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses Hotels Resorts & Spas ( Singapore)
- Paul Priestman, Designer & Chairman of PriestmanGoode (UK)
- Pei Zhu, Founder of Studio Zhu-Pei (Mainland China)
- Richard Ekkebus, Director of Culinary Operations and F&B of The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong (HK)
- Robert Greenwood, Managing Director Asia of Snøhetta (HK)
- Sara Mao, Vice President and Director, Christie’s Education Asia Pacific, of Christie’s (HK)
- Steve Leung, Founder of Steve Leung Design Group Limited (HK)
- Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director of M+ (HK)
- Thomas Heatherwick, CBE, Founder of Heatherwick Studio (UK)
- Tiffany Lau, Executive Director and Head of Urban Ecosystems, Asia Pacific, of Jones Lang LaSalle IP, Inc. (JLL) (HK)
- Tino Kwan, Principal Consultant of TinoKwan Lighting Consultants Limited (HK)
- Prof. Winka Dubbeldam, Founder & Partner of Archi-Tectonics NYC; Miller Professor & Chair of Weitzman Architecture of University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Yat Siu, Co-Founder & Chairman of Animoca Brands (HK)
- Yenn Wong, CEO & Founder of JIA Group (HK) and others
In addition to the Summit scheduled for December 2021, HKDC will also soft launch a new design knowledge platform ‘bodw+’ in October 2021. The ‘bodw+’ is envisioned to become Asia’s leading online design portal promoting and celebrating design excellence, inspiring and engaging the local and international design community, and connecting overseas regions and the Mainland, especially the Guangdong-Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area.
This platform will feature the latest insights on seminal design trends, and exclusive interviews with creative leaders and emerging talents.
Join BODW 2021 and Rethink, Refresh and Reset with leading entrepreneurs, creatives, and designers from different sectors. Let’s Reset @ BODW2021!
For registration and updates of BODW 2021, please visit the official website at http://www.bodw.com/ and follow bodw+ on the following social media channels: Facebook (bodw+), Instagram (@bodwplus), Twitter (@bodwplus), LinkedIn (bodw+) and YouTube (bodw+).
BODW is organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) and co-organised by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), with Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) as the Lead Sponsor.
