Winners announced for Car Design Awards China 2010

Best Lifestyle Interior (Sponsor: Alcantara) Chevrolet ‘C3’ - Kaiji Pu and Yuzhou Ling (Southeast University / Donghua University)

Judges noted the ball-seats “that perfectly fit the interior” and “a concept that inspires people to think about the different usability of small transportation”. Click for larger images

Ding Yangfeng, Head of Design Team for FAW-VW, said the designers showed they had “expansive science knowledge and rich imagination”

Liang Chen of Jilin University won the award for Best Design In Harmony With China’s Heritage, with his Citroën ‘C-porcelaine’ concept

Inspired by traditional Chinese blue and white porcelain, the concept was singled out for praise by Robert Walker “as a unique expression of Chinese culture through form and graphcs”

Hubei University of Automotive Technology student designer Ang Ye was commended by the judges for inspiring people to think beyond their preconceptions of what a ‘car’ should be

Robert Walker described the Chevrolet ‘Amazing Top’ concept as a “completely innovative and unique vision for future mobility”. CH-Auto’s Shen XiangChao said it is “a fresh and outstanding idea, and a new definition of transport”.   Ding Yangfeng said he voted for this concept “to encourage someone who has ‘crazy’ ideas”

Photos: Liu Xue Xin & Li Le

Best Lifestyle Interior 
(Sponsor: Alcantara)
 Chevrolet ‘C3’ - Kaiji Pu and Yuzhou Ling (Southeast University / Donghua University)

A sophisticated and intelligently developed piece of design ensured a deserved win for Kaiji Pu and Yuzhou Ling, from Southeast University and Donghua University respectively,
for their Chevrolet ‘C3’ concept.

Kaiji Pu from Southeast University and Yuzhou Ling from Donghua University celebrate winning the Best Lifestyle Interior award for their Chevrolet ‘C3’ concept

Liang Chen receives his award from Cary Bean, President of Eagle Ottawa China

Robert Walker and Simon Loasby congratulate Ang Ye on receiving the Judges’ Special Commendation for the competition

Master of Ceremonies for the awards evening: Kumo Chiu (left) and Edward Wong

Another firm favourite among the judges, Double Du highlighted the ball-seats “that perfectly fit the interior” and “a concept that inspires people to think about the different usability of small transportation”. Cai Qian was impressed with the sophisticated design as well as the quality of the rendering. He also felt the interior offered “a very comfortable ‘home’ feeling”. Ding Yangfeng, Head of Design Team for FAW-Volkswagen, said the designers showed they had “expansive science knowledge and rich imagination”. Cao Min liked the fun appearance of the concept and noted the original drive system. Peter Stevens described it as: “A perfect lifestyle interior; Simple, elegant and a very well developed piece of design.”

Best Design In Harmony With China’s Heritage
 (Sponsor: Eagle Ottawa) 
Citroën ‘C-porcelaine’ - Liang Chen (Jilin University)

With the majority of all the votes in this category, Liang Chen’s winning design, inspired by traditional Chinese blue and white porcelain, was singled out for praise by Robert Walker “as a unique expression of Chinese culture through form and graphics”. Cao Min said it was a “very Chinese design” and Johnson Controls’ Richard Chung thought the “form language to be as elegant as the culture of China”. Peter Stevens found it “a wonderful piece of work, delicate… and with a very light touch… and with wonderful seats too”.  

The judges also wanted to acknowledge some of the students’ design entries which, while not making the finals for the awards, were noteworthy and deserved to be commended in a newly created category.

 Judges’ Special Commendation
Chevrolet ‘Amazing Top’ - Ang Ye (Hubei University of Automotive Technology)

Without a doubt, this was the most unusual entry to the competition. With its fresh look at the idea of spider-like transportation and inspiring people to think beyond their preconceptions of what a ‘car’ should be, Ang Ye’s distinctive concept certainly had ‘wow’ factor. Robert Walker described it as a “completely innovative and unique vision for future mobility”. Shen XiangChao of CH-Auto said it is “a fresh and outstanding idea, and a new definition of transport”. 

Johnson Controls’ Richard Chung said the concept offered “a new rule-breaking definition of mobility”. Cai Qian commented that he got “a very big surprise!” when he saw this design, while Ding Yangfeng said he voted for this concept “to encourage someone who has ‘crazy’ ideas”. Simon Loasby went further, and said this design was his “absolute favourite - just because the designer has done such a super job of removing himself from reality.”

  The competition proved quite a challenge for the distinguished panel of judges, made up of senior automotive design directors. Even at the shortlist stage, the creative qualities of China’s rising generation of automotive designers led to the judges selecting a total of 53 students from 23 different design schools to be potential finalists. But ultimately, the judges had to narrow their selection to only five for each of the five awards.