By Li Ye, Zhang Jiongqiang
Italian design master Aldo Cibic set up his own studio in Milan at the age of 19. At 22, he joined forces with fellow designer Ettore Sottsass to launch the influential Memphis design movement. Emerging in the early 1980s, the movement challenged conventional design with bold colors, exaggerated forms and unconventional materials, and its impact continues to inspire designers today.
What Cibic himself did not foresee is that he is now an honorary professor at Tongji University, living in Shanghai and deeply involved in local practice. In Anshan New Village, Yangpu District, he has led the creation of the NICE2035 Future Living Prototype Street, exploring new approaches to community building and preservation. NICE2035 stands for Neighborhood of Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship towards 2035. Cibic believes Shanghai's design environment will inspire him to create more works, and he has even expressed interest in initiating a new design movement, one he hopes will be "bigger than Memphis."
At the Fourth International Design 100 Forum, part of the 2025 World Design Capital Conference, Cibic and ten other masters were appointed as the fourth cohort of experts to the International Design 100 Think Tank.
The International Design 100 Think Tank, commissioned by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization and led by Tongji University, is one of the key outcomes of the inaugural World Design Capital Conference held in 2022. As a new type of think tank, it functions as a world-class creative community, bringing together global leaders from the design industry, organizations and academia.
Several years ago, at the invitation of a close friend at Tongji University, Cibic came to Shanghai. He redesigned the entire residential compound at Lane 1028, Siping Road, transforming it into the NICE2035 Future Living Prototype Street. The project emphasizes mixed-use development, connecting adjacent storefronts and reorganizing space, while introducing new concepts such as the Zhu Zheqin Sound Lab, a contemporary jewelry and new culture center, a community incubation hub, and Aston Martin's first overseas laboratory, meeting the diverse cultural needs of local residents.
Urban renewal does not require large-scale demolition and reconstruction, Aldo Cibic emphasized. Whether in material use or design philosophy, a key principle is to pause and take stock of what already exists. By combining "old materials" with modern technologies, he said, new life can emerge. Today, Cibic finds great pleasure in the everyday rhythm of cycling to work. This down-to-earth urban experience does not conflict with his research or his role as an "imaginative reformer." As he observed, "China's design environment today feels much like Milan in the 1980s—full of optimism about the future, curiosity about the new, and people ready to take action. That's why starting a new chapter in Shanghai feels exactly right."
Recently, the launch meeting for the Tongji NICE2035 Chifeng Road Organic Renewal Project was held. Tongji University, in collaboration with Yangpu District, will develop an urban innovation district that integrates prototype innovation, creative design, AI applications, IP incubation, and community life. The project aims to achieve deep integration among a university campus, a technology park, and a public community, setting a model for future-oriented urban living. The district is scheduled to open to the public next May, coinciding with the 119th anniversary of Tongji University.
The NICE2035 Chifeng Road launch zone will feature three major components: the Future Laboratory for Construction in Extreme Environments, the Smart Construction "Better Homes" Future Living Lab, and the Chifeng Road Future Prototype Street. As a key part of the project, Tongji University's College of Civil Engineering announced the establishment of the Future Laboratory for Construction in Extreme Environments. Leveraging the university's multidisciplinary strengths, the lab will explore new scenarios such as high-altitude, polar, and extraterrestrial environments, focusing on cutting-edge technologies including low-carbon, smart, and resilient construction, and advancing both research and real-world applications. The Smart Construction "Better Homes" Future Living Lab will invite design teams from China and abroad to create demonstration models of "better homes, better neighborhoods, better communities, and better urban districts." Meanwhile, the Chifeng Road Future Prototype Street will center on prototype innovation, serving as a new engine and source of innovation for the Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle.
