Brands NexLab

NexLab is an international research lab about Design and Innovation for Future Lifestyle, based in Shenzhen University, Greater Bay Area of China, supported by Farnova (new-energy automotive group). The lab is aiming at facilitating design-driven innovation by developing consumption culture and design trends studies across regions, launching design strategy research and respective design practice across academic disciplines, and driving brand innovation potentialities in the global context by experience design experiments, so as to explore more dynamic approaches and promote more sustainable lifestyles by linking together the design communities, academic researchers, enterprise practitioners, with its collaborative network around the globe.

Hedda’s Knot

Hedda’s Knot is a part of NexLab’s experimental project ‘Tableless Ware’ that is to innovate the concept of table, designing for Farnova’s future conceptual vehicle Hedda. Hedda is a new concept for future mobility that carries a metaphor for the future lifestyle of avant-garde ladies. And then the table of Hedda, on one hand should serve to be supportive, on the other hand should be no longer a ‘fixed’ item. Hence, by developing a movable table interface inside the future car, the design team is trying to explore the dynamics of settings in a fixed space—the table can be split as four arm units for individual use, while can be put together as a union for sharing and communication. The digital interface attached is designed accordingly to easily change the mode of the space into scenarios serving for diverse occasions and identities (private work, conference, entertainment, personal and social life, etc.) by one click. The constructive structure is originated from traditional Chinese knot that represents a harmony of union, while combining it with Ibsen’s character Hedda Gabler, knot also embeds the conflict of women—our design transfers the conflict to a balance, and the balance to a dynamic possibility that makes balance no longer be an issue for the avant-garde ladies in the future. The design is initiated by the lab founder Dr. Han Han of Shenzhen University (Ph.D in Design Strategy from Politecnico di Milano), led by the chief designer Pan Dai (founder of Metaverse Srl Italy), and co-designed by young design talents from China Zixuan Li (visual design), Linlin Feng (product design), and Jinlong Li (interactive design).