C Foundation brings the industry together to better the future of design. On the afternoon of December 3rd, the One-Year Charity Symposium of C Foundation was held in the Palace Museum. The symposium is themed “seeking innovation and facilitating entrepreneurship for our shared future” and has on its agenda the following items shown in chronological order: the 2015 work report, C Foundation Chair handover, the outlook and project introduction for 2016 and signing ceremony of enterprises donating for 2016 projects. C Foundation Directors, Supervisors, design industry leading figures and leading enterprises, and invited media representatives were all present. 

The One-Year Charity Symposium of C Foundation held in grandeur in the Palace Museum

C Foundation brings the industry together to better the future of design. On the afternoon of December 3rd, the One-Year Charity Symposium of C Foundation was held in the Palace Museum. The symposium is themed “seeking innovation and facilitating entrepreneurship for our shared future” and has on its agenda the following items shown in chronological order: the 2015 work report, C Foundation Chair handover, the outlook and project introduction for 2016 and signing ceremony of enterprises donating for 2016 projects.

All the ten Directors of C Foundation were present, and they are Qiu Deguang, Lin Xueming, Liang Jinghua, Steve Leung, Liang Jianguo, Chen Yaoguang, Jiang Feng, Dai Kun, Sun Jianhua and Ju Bin. Also present at the event were C Foundation Supervisors, namely Liu Xu, Chairman of China National Interior Decoration Association, and Wang Tie, Director of the Design Committee of China Building Decoration Association, leading figures and entrepreneurs in the home decoration and design industry, and representatives of Sina Home, the media invited to give exclusive coverage of the event. Ms. Wang Sha from the Art Display & Decoration Committee of China National Interior Decoration Association acted as the moderator.

The ten Directors of C Foundation

The symposium

Looking back on the past year when C Foundation set sail on its journey of charity

C Foundation, registered and established in Shenzhen in November 2014, is the first voluntarily initiated, organized and established private nonprofit foundation in the Chinese design community. Within just one year after its birth, C Foundation has carried out charity activities nationwide in such aspects as design education, academic research, talent cultivation and assistance, design exchanges, intangible heritage preservation and assistance to disaster-stricken areas.

At the symposium, Mr. Jiang Feng, Chair of C Foundation, delivered the 2015 work report with passion, wit and humor. He reviewed in detail the journey C Foundation had traveled in 2015 from such angles as work arrangements, project operation, project financing, strategic cooperation, honors and awards earned and revenue and expenditure, and he particularly elaborated on the 10-plus charity projects carried out in 2015.

Chair Jiang Feng reported the performance of C Foundation over the past year

Here are the highlights of the year 2015: the 2015 China Design Forum held is a carnival for the design community and facilitates academic exchanges in the industry; the 2015 C Foundation 4×4 Workshop Experiment Project aims at transcending boundaries and improving the design and feasibility of practice-based education; the “Grand Canal 2050” project conducts in-depth survey and research on and makes long-term planning for tapping into, preserving and making relevant the historical and cultural value of the Grand Canal; the Bauhaus Research, Education and Publication Program is about digging into, revisiting and re-innovating Bauhaus, the source of modern design; C Foundation financed the publication of Doors of Beijing Hutong (beijing hutong de men) and Architecture for All (zhuzhong de jianzhuxue), books written by an expert and a scholar. At the symposium, Mr. Jiang Feng gave the book Doors of Beijing Hutong to its author in a ceremony. 

The book giveaway ceremony

Mr. Jiang Feng also extended gratitude to the six strategic partners of 2015: “In 2015, we had strategic partnership with six enterprises, namely, Easy Home, Red Star Macalline, Nature Home, Air Land Home, TATA wooden doors and AUPU. They support and facilitate the charity undertakings in China’s design community and have provided selfless help for C Foundation. For that, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to them. Thank you!”

Strategic partners of C Foundation in 2015

Within just one year, C Foundation has raised donations of 24.31 million yuan and racked up honors and awards, including Gold Prize of 2014 Sina Home Annual Design Award, “Funder of Philanthropy Projects” at the Fourth China Charity Fair, and Public Welfare Booster Award of 2015 China Interior Design Week. The year has indeed been very fruitful for C Foundation. 

What will C Foundation be like in ten years? Mr. Jiang Feng shared his vision: “First, in ten years, C Foundation will establish a C Foundation design academy… It will be a private design academy with a global awareness and it will offer both art and design disciplines. It will be China’s largest and best private design academy. All the tuition and fees we charge will be used for the academy’s development… The plan is for the academy to turn out around 500 excellent design talents every year, particularly talents that would be well-received by the home decoration industry. We will contribute our share to China’s design education and the preservation of tradition…

Another thing we envision is a C Foundation global design award. What sets this award apart is that we offer prize money totaling 500,000 US dollars. We plan to initiate the C Foundation design award in 2019 and hope that it can become the Nobel Prize in the design community. We aim to inspire and encourage excellent designers that are passionate about design, persistent and talented, be the trendsetter of new lifestyles and drive progress in the design industry…”

Outlook: staying on the intended trajectory of charity

A simple but meaningful handover of Chair was held as well. As witnessed by all the guests present, Mr. Jiang Feng, the previous Chair, handed over the “heirloom” of C Foundation, the Chair Cup featuring C Foundation’s logo, to Mr. Lin Xueming, the new Chair. Amid warm congratulations by other Directors and guests, the newly inaugurated Chair Lin Xueming delivered a speech about the outlook for the 2016 under the leadership of the new Board of Directors and projects of 2016.

Chair Handover ceremony

Mr. Lin Xueming said: “Looking ahead, we have a long way to go. We will continue to uphold the purpose and mission of C Foundation and commit ourselves to boosting design education, preserving and carrying forward the Chinese culture, and supporting exchanges in the design community. Building on the foundation laid by Chair Jiang Feng, we will follow up on the projects we have undertaken, and also properly execute and manage projects of 2016. We will be bold and innovative in finding a larger number of more meaningful charity projects to support; we will earnestly fulfill our responsibilities and also subject ourselves to attention and scrutiny of enterprises and the whole society.

In 2016, we will continue to join forces with various industries, associations, societies, universities and media, etc. whenever we can to provide a broader stage for more talented, ambitious, creative and public-spirited designers in a bid to create a glorious tomorrow for the charity undertakings of the Chinese design community.” 

Before this, Mr. Lin Xueming shared the good news of Director Steve Leung becoming President-elect of IFI (2015-2017) and extended his congratulations: “The International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) held the 27th General Assembly Meeting in Gwangju, Republic of South Korea, and Director Steve Leung, the main initiator of C Foundation, successfully ran for Rotating President 2015-2017 and became President-elect of the international organization. All the Directors of C Foundation are proud of him. His being elected will provide new opportunities for C Foundation to do things on a more influential platform in the future and give Chinese interior designers a stronger say when they seek to raise their profile internationally and participate in international design competitions. I hereby congratulate Steve on behalf of C Foundation.” Subsequently in his speech “International Exchanges and Designers-Industry/Enterprises Exchanges”, Mr. Steve Leung said that C Foundation was his lifelong pursuit and promised to “raise the profile of Chinese design through IFI so that the whole world can get to know developments in China.”

Signing with donating enterprises that spread kindness 

The achievements of C Foundation over the past year elicited bravos and applauses from guests who were wonderfully surprised, which reached its peak when the agreement of strategic cooperation for charity projects in 2016 was signed. Seven enterprises, namely, Easy Home, Red Star Macalline, TATA wooden doors, Air Land Home, AUPU, Tucson and Derlook, all forged strategic partnership for charity with C Foundation and pledged to donate 1 million yuan for the strategic cooperation. 

Then, the speech by Mr. Wang Tie, representative of beneficiary organizations, of the expert committee and of C Foundation Supervisors, once again enlivened the atmosphere. He shared with participants the delightful outcomes of the 4×4 Workshop Experiment Project: “This year, we arranged for 11 master’s candidates to study at University of Pécs in Hungary, and three PhD candidates already received the official letter of admission and would enroll on February 10th next year. For that, I want to thank C Foundation. What’s more worth noting is that during the partnership project, two masters that graduated from the architecture program of University of Pécs now find a job in China. The involvement of C Foundation has made the project perform better and develop stronger appeal.” Mr. Wang Tie donated to C Foundation two books that were published with the funding from C Foundation, Come in Handy and Keep Working. 

Mr. Wang Tie donating books to C Foundation

Infected and inspired by the animated atmosphere at the event, representatives of enterprises present committed with great interest and enthusiasm donations to charity projects of 2016, two thirds of which have received the total amount of funding they would need. All the donations will be used for future charity projects and activities of C Foundation. The enterprises’ charity and kindness are equally touching and valuable, regardless of how much they donate and which donate first. The symposium concluded in a warm and sweet atmosphere.

Small acts of kindness can, accumulatively, have enormous power on dream-chasers. At the One-Year Charity Symposium of C Foundation, participants could feel love and kindness thick in the air. As the newly inaugurated Chair Lin Xueming said, we firmly believe that next year C Foundation will, like an eagle, soar higher and farther, and we also believe that with the participation and support of the aforementioned enterprises, C Foundation will live up to its mission.