Reforming Industrial Design Education in Mainland China

Industrial Design in China seldom addresses the §issue of sustainability in mass production. Failure §to incorporate sustainable design as a core §principle will result in long term environmental and §economic loss for both business and society. This §research studies the current Industrial Design §educational system in Mainland China and proposes a §new educational framework to engage sustainability §as a design objective. Literature related to §sustainability is collected and §overlaid with educational constraints identified §through the interviews with educators, students, and §practitioners of Industrial Design in four major §cities of China. A new educational framework is §proposed. It categorizes courses in a §four year undergraduate Industrial Design §educational program into four domains and §suggestions for the appropriate timeline, content, §and pedagogical approaches for curriculum are also §provided. This book provides first-hand data of §the current Industrial Design education system in §Mainland China to help educators and researchers §understand the larger context of this system and §challenges it is facing.