DesignHarvests project aims to achieve sustainable and fair social and economic balance between city (Shanghai) and countryside (Chongming Island). We provide design solutions to bridge the proactive citizenship that looks for the immaterial values of local production (food, crafts, heritage artefacts) with networks of villagers which production is soaked by heritage values, social meaning and quality factors, but is normally exploited by current urban sprawl. Therefore our design actions mainly based on participatory processes have social and cultural impact. Our entrepreneurial moves lack of strategy and are affected by the slow mechanism of academic funding. Moreover, we are convinced that the challenges of social innovation need to be explored by business perspective in order to achieve significant material and systemic impact. Ecsel represents a truly valuable occasion for our team and network of partner to improve the design practice at the crossroad between academy and industry.

1. sustainable communities
between city & countryside
by StudioTAO
of TEKTAO Urban Planning and Design, Shanghai
project partners:
DESIS Network Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability
College of Design&Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai
francesca valsecchi
ECSEL 2012 Second Round Application
February 2012, Shanghai

2. research based design intervention in the rural China,
that aims to achieve more sustainable and fair
social and economic balance between city and countryside.
With our design practice we are experimenting
at crossroads of academy and industry,
and we involve stakeholder
from both research and business fields
in the social innovation challenges and impact.

3. bridging
the city and the countryside
through heritage, knowledge
& resources exchange 38C 0M 100Y 0K
171R 208G 55B
HEX #ABD037
60C 51M 51Y 20K
102R 103G 102B
HEX #666766
We push alternative We involve local Who benefits:
sustainable proposal communities in the proactive citizenship
for contemporary urban design actions. that looks for local
sprawl. We design immaterial values (food,
We work to find communication, crafts, heritage artefacts)
bottom-up sustainable services and experiences and local farmers,
developing way contributing to craftsmen
by “design thinking”, reconstruction of that produce with
to integrate urban and knowledge identity heritage values,
rural resources. by the villagers. social meaning
and quality factors.

4. 3 ongoing main projects
remraf
agri-culture design mobile technology based crafts heritage
food culture &Seeds
Seedsproduction by by
community services preservation
Seeds
Seeds
by by
by by Seeds by
Two piece of land where Extended research Several bamboo
approach with the local farmers and prototyping crafting workshops
the concept and practice of technology based systems Seeds by
around the islands
by
of organic based agriculture (mobile, internet of things) and some new crafts objects
and explore to support co-designed
direct farmers-citizens rural-urban connections wvith the artisans
market space (ongoing research partnership with nokia) http://designentwines.tumblr.com/
(last harvest production: rice)

5. how we work
We develop design
concepts and
prototypes
through in-depth
daily field work, field work interviews
design and planning
of services,
communication
strategy and tools,
networking,
small scale
production.
ongoing
ethnography prototyping
participatory
co-design events

6. current distribution
& management system
research project outcomes
dissemination outcoms marketspace
taobao
distribution online shop
and market We recently opened
internally our taobao shop for
managed manage distribution.
hand-made Not fully satisfied
packaging by remote interactions.
bamboo
crafts
city sustainable new partners
markets and new projects
public events
We participate to We believe local based
dissemination public events in city, entrepreneurship
activity
followed by rice farmers market, sustainability is as positive mechanisms
fairs, and by this we grow for social innovation projects.
senior research material the network of stakeholders. We continuosly look for
members production new partnerships,
of the team
collaborators,
direct contacts and investors
& committed of ideas and money.
knowledge stakeholders
design
production seeds
We mainly distribute directly
to people, within
harvests network of interests where
book to promote the cultural values
of the products.
international research
funding
city potential
academic customers investments
networks & partnership
presence conferences
and journals
publications

7. team and organization
structure
business management
38C 0M 100Y 0K
171R 208G 55B
HEX #ABD037
60C 51M 51Y 20K
102R 103G 102B project research design & management
HEX #666766
team development
lou yongqi
studio tek studio tao professor
architecture design cynthia xu
project assistant
department department francesca (myself )
research coord.
employees 5+ serena
service design project coord.
& interaction diego
research&design
research projects
joey lei
research&design
employees 15+
zhu mingjie
urban planning projects designer
jiang lina
economic flows designer
team structure
and competences
scientific support
universities &
international
research
network

8. business current impact
outlines constraints evaluation
in few words well known what we consider
what we want limitations and positive indicator
to achieve weackness point of success
create organization increase of
small scale economic participation to
valuable market space self-indipendence events we organize,
based on trust (size constraint) number of fellows
create better organization market penetration
a culture of the local structure among and distribution
among the ciy research and efficiency of first
community management experimental harvest
of consumers departments production
envision lack of structure in capacity to find
a proactive idea market strategy next funding
of market in which
consumers foster entrepreneurs
become users partnership

9. future works
We have two main tasks
for the near future.
Our cooperation with
the farmers will extend
to small production in
greenhouses; we aim to
push one step forward
the use of natural based
greenhouses cultivation techniques
experiment in the village among the villagers.
Also, we will complete
the design a collection of
bamboo weaved objects;
together with the farmers
we would combine and
share the knowledge
of crafts expertise and
design skills.
bamboo crafts
co-designed collection

10. designharvests@gmail.com
http://designharvests.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designharvests
http://weibo.com/studiotao
http://www.douban.com/people/tektao/