Pan Yanrong’s class exhibition.
Jianping He, also known as Jumping He, is a 55-year-old German-Chinese graphic designer, teacher and publisher. He was born in Hangzhou, China. In 2002 he opened hesign in Berlin, where he lives most of the year, and in 2008 another office in his home province, Hangzhou. I have written before about his penchant for shredded books and his incomparably tactile Daydream, which you must experience in your hands. But I have not yet focused on the independently funded art/design school that He calls Design Summer academy.
Markus Weisbeck and Vera Kunz’s class exhibition
Fons Hickmann’s class.
For 15 years, the DS academy in Hangzhou has drawn from the rich pedagogical traditions of both China and the West. The school is inspired by the ideas of two key figures: 20th-century Chinese educator Cai Yuanpei, who promotes the concept of aesthetic education in society, and John Dewey, who considered education to be “life itself.”
DS academy builds its coursework on “exploration and innovation” in order to cultivate artists and designers who possess refined tastes, demonstrate creative passion, and fluently utilize modern technology. This is accelerated through inventive classes taught by a skilled, illustrious international faculty that weds contemporary practice and technology with a history of Eastern and Western accomplishments, thus bridging the gap between design as pragmatics and art. He’s recipe of in-person learning, hands-on training and intensive craftsmanship nurtures individual thought. That he does it without official funding is a design thinker’s miracle. Think about that!
Nikita Iziev’s class.
The post The Daily Heller: Jumping He’s Summer Design Academy in China appeared first on PRINT Magazine.