V&A names director for Design Museum China
by Katie Buckley | 15 Jan 2015
Ole Bouman, previously the head of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, has been named as the director of the upcoming Shekou Design Museum in Shenzhen, China.
The new Design Museum is a joint collaboration between the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and China Merchants Property Development Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate China Merchants Group (CMG).
Bouman, who has a deep interest and involvement with all things architecture and design, was creative director for the fifth Shenzhen Architecture and Urbanism Biennale in 2013/14 and will take up his new role this month (January 2015) as director of the new museum.
In a statement confirming his appointment, Bouman said: “It is really exciting to work on the next stage of this development by fostering a new quality agenda in design culture and industry, presented to a large audience, in one of the most pioneering cities of the world.”
A rendering of how the proposed Design Museum will look. China Merchants Property Development & Maki and Associates.
Planned to open at the end of 2016, The Shekou Design Museum will form part of a wider ‘Sea World Arts and Cultural Centre’ also being funded by CMG. Shenzhen is China’s first city to be appointed a UNESCO city of design and creative industry.
With this in mind, the 70,000sq m (753,473sq ft) development is being designed by the Pritzker Prize winning architect, Fumihiko Maki of Maki and Associates. The development will not only have the design museum, but also a branch of the Guanfu Museum and a retail area.
Ole Bouman, previously the head of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, has been named as the director of the upcoming Shekou Design Museum in Shenzhen, China. The new Design Museum is a joint collaboration between the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and China Merchants Property Development Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate China Merchants Group (CMG). Bouman, who has a deep interest and involvement with all things architecture and design,
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