VEIJ | Exploring the crossover of “Home & Architecture × Design”
This is a recurring salon series held several times a year, each with a different theme.
Hosted by VEIJ Home.
Moderated by Ms. Dai Bei.
Renowned furniture and architectural designers appear together on the same stage.
Panelists:
Dai Bei — DuSir Home | Dai Bei TALK
Zhao Yang — Principal Architect, ZHAOYANG Studio
Huang Quan — Founder, VEIJI Design / Jijian Home
Lai Xudong — Design Director, Times Venture Interior Design
Chen Darui — Founder, Maxmarko MUMI / CHEN DARUI PUWUU
Liao Yanwen — Founder, HIK (HIK | VEIJ)
Liu Zongya — Principal, VEIJ Home / Founder, S+P Poetics of Space
In 2024,
we speak together about “the future of furniture and design”.
At the start, moderator Dai Bei first mentioned the approachability of the on‑site design.
“Today we’re under a lovely outdoor tree, with flowers and grasses beside us — like a friend’s courtyard — and we invited a group of old friends.”
“This courtyard is actually designed by VEIJ. In Mr. Liu’s words: one tree, two clusters of plants, and four boxes.”
“Amid this staggered composition, you can feel life coming right at you.”
Dai Bei: Furniture is closely linked to life. As a key component of spatial scenes, how will furniture chemically react with space under today’s consumption trends? In recent years, retail formats are quietly changing — exploring more city attributes and scene implantation. From a design perspective, what new ideas emerge for store formats and spatial presentation?
Designer Lai Xudong spoke gently and at length.
“In recent years we designers have discussed: make homes warmer; make commerce feel less commercial. From a sales perspective, we make store formats more scene‑based, just like returning home.”
“Soften the atmosphere — avoid blunt sales scenes that cause resistance.”
“As long as scenes feel elevated, participation deepens, and a product’s sense of quality imprints subtly on consumers.”
“The deeper we go into furniture design, the more we value ‘light renovation, strong furnishing’. Furniture that can follow users like luggage into any scene to form a familiar setting.”
Pioneer Huang Quan offered fresh perspectives.
“Furniture design isn’t easy. Any original piece must reflect your grasp of deep design history — knowing what you’re doing within that lineage — to create something lasting and classic. It’s not to be taken lightly.”
“Homes already have many things; if a piece can’t stand scrutiny, it becomes a burden.”
“Contemporary life is very real; it’s hard to reconstruct it by staging. Designers, as outsiders, don’t live each user’s actual scenes; it’s hard to truly sense their needs for form and function.”
“At the soft‑furnishings layer I often step back — I hope clients, based on their own cognition, needs and style, build their own soft furnishings. Every home tells stories; dialogue between person and furniture can spark new ideas when fused together.”
“Two architectural angles: first, seamless linkage from interior to semi‑outdoor; second, enlarging structural nodes, so connections become formal characteristics of furniture.”
Trailblazer Chen Darui recalled 20 years of study and practice — speaking with true feeling.
“Furniture is micro‑architecture — movable and circulating. With the times, furniture expresses content.”
“With the internet’s explosive growth, consumers can easily recognize and precisely obtain what they want.”
“Challenge the halo of traditional prime locations; go deep into lively alleys rich with local culture. Abandon traffic stacking and follow the flow of things.”
“When opening a store, find the most culturally emblematic place in the city.”
Veteran furniture entrepreneur Mr. Liao, with 20+ years in the field, loves furniture deeply.
“Personally I like things that are relaxed and free; store formats likewise. Current specialized furniture malls show the same trend.”
“I keep asking myself what I really want — and find I linger most in worlds that create relaxed, natural atmospheres.”
“Meeting Mr. Liu is a blessing. Each time we present eye‑catching products or exhibitions, the process isn’t tiring — it’s exciting and fulfilling.”
“I respect design — it’s the soul and the standard. Without good design, one may keep making mistakes later.”
“Whether product or space, from paper to reality requires many rounds of refinement — the entrepreneur’s unique bittersweet journey.”
Mr. Liu — always insightful and at ease — touches our shared longings.
“Ideas change; what we seek now is authenticity. Since last year I especially enjoy residential work — like a cycle.”
“Clients no longer need to find references; they just tell you what they want — but the subsequent communication grows long. That length is authenticity — imagining what the future holds.”
“As users, we won’t choose to live in homes we don’t like. We pay to shape them, and keep questioning — that is growth. While pursuing business aims, we’re really fulfilling expectations of our future selves.”
“In contemporary China people want to live as themselves — real and interesting. So in space we emphasize personal consciousness and mental state. A person is like a house; we use that as an entry to match design.”
“When expressing a brand’s free will and stance, we seek a high overlap with users’ needs — a two‑way journey of demand and delivery, co‑powering a chain reaction.”
Zhao Yang: From the perspective of the furniture industry, fully catching up with Milan Design Week is a path we must take — though not without hardship. Meanwhile, in the world of life, unexpected inspirations arise — often discovered not by designers but by real users.
Lai Xudong: Furniture design is “bounded” design — indeed difficult. Within our knowledge system, inspiration is plentiful; we can stage scenes well. Domestic brands have advantages in local consumption layers and states — we design atmospheres that Chinese users commonly need. Design is like painting — an inside‑out expression with strong style and clear recognition, a projection of the inner self. The road is long; stay true to yourself.
Huang Quan: Good design and good products are not the same. China has strong manufacturing and supply chains — only by joining forces can we form a virtuous cycle for good products. That’s why building a good furniture brand is so hard. Designers used to focus on selection; now more on creating products — embracing differentiation and diversity. A welcome shift.
Zhao Yang: The “sense of ease” in real life reveals the owner’s uniqueness — that truly moves us. It’s hard to rule a home with one aesthetic style — that’s a kind of “beautiful violence” imposed on others. Future furniture needs attraction — a story — and it shouldn’t be a story detached from architecture.
Chen Darui: We’re in an era of upgraded aesthetics. Italian minimalism was once niche; today it sweeps mainstream modern Chinese furniture. The difficulty before was the public’s unsolved aesthetics — solved by a few. Now even second‑ and third‑tier cities adopt Italian minimalism. Through mass replication, we accelerated modern public aesthetics. Only now is the soil ready for difference and individuality.
Liao Yanwen: Designers and entrepreneurs need each other. As entrepreneurs we inevitably seek quick monetization — costs stare at us every morning. Founding VEIJ raised our reverence for design to new heights. Mutual guidance and tolerance between design and industry will lead the sector forward together. Pride in national brands should be built on trust and giving them opportunities — not blindly chasing foreign brands without reflection.
Liu Zongya: For original products, another issue remains — why will consumers buy? Individual product character alone may be insufficient — it rises to a brand question. If we keep discussing “Italian minimalism”, Chinese originality becomes unnecessary. With knockoffs online, competing ends there — but that’s not enough. A brand should be an explorer that offers solutions of our time, presenting what consumers have in mind. What’s needed isn’t merely products, but the resolve to propose for life. Brands should respond to contemporary needs and keep building that relationship.
Rooted in the present,
enter through an aesthetic lens,
and delve into the emotional bonds between people, home and life,
exploring empathetic extensions of space, furniture, scenography and light–shadow.
A brainstorm on style pairing and the tug‑of‑war of design limits.
Starting from life,
and going beyond life.
An appointment with the salon —
came to a perfect close.
After the salon, a rare moment to chat.
We sat around for a shared meal — tasting life.
Relaxed and serene — a different kind of scene.
The latest supporting exhibition hall of hik product center is located in Foshan, China furniture manufacturing factory. Just click to browse the various environments and discover all the product information.
No.160 Wanggang Road, Longjiang Town, Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province
+86-757-23387578
sales@hik-sofa.com
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