Presented by Desz Office, the RE-CRAFT exhibition brings together a group of international designers and artists whose work reflects on materiality, function, and the broader role of design in society. On view at the ICFF Expo during NYCxDesign (May 18–20, 2025), the exhibition invites visitors to consider how sustainability, cultural heritage, and craftsmanship can shape the future of design.
Each of the 11 participants offers a distinct perspective on how objects can serve both practical and symbolic purposes, responding to environmental concerns while addressing social and cultural narratives. From reused materials to new fabrication techniques, RE-CRAFT presents design as a product and a process shaped by ethics, community, and care.
At a time when design often risks being reduced to aesthetics or trend, RE-CRAFT offers a timely reminder: thoughtful design is deeply connected to the world it inhabits. What follows is a closer look at each contributing designer and the ideas shaping their practice.
1. Ruiting Xu – Unearth
Ruiting Xu is an award-winning designer who works in architecture, interior design, and sustainable product design. Her design approach is grounded in environmental responsibility, integrating sustainable practices into diverse projects, from built environments to functional objects. Every creation reflects a thoughtful balance of form, function, and materiality, guided by a lasting commitment to sustainability.
Unearth examines the transformative power of materials, exploring the tension between the refined and the raw. Geometric rigidity contrasts with sculptural softness, symbolizing cycles of erosion, growth, and revelation. Unified in form, each vase in the trio opens differently, inviting discovery and encouraging an evolving dialogue between user and object.
2. Tina (Hua Hsuan) Tsung and Qihang (Mike) Zhang – Radiant Embrace
Award-winning designer Tina (Hua Hsuan) Tsung blends modern technology with heritage to create impactful digital and physical products, earning novelty award recognition for innovative design solutions. Her B2B and B2C designs integrate sustainability and cultural storytelling for notable clients like Bank of the West and Samsung Research America.
Award-winning designer Qihang (Mike) Zhang integrates data, AI, and music technology to craft intuitive SaaS platforms and creative tools. Recognized by the iF Design Award and over 40 international honors, his work empowers global clients, including Universal, Warner, Sony Music, and TikTok, blending analytics and creativity to drive innovation across the music and tech industries.
Radiant Embrace, a smart lamp featuring Taiwanese Shippou and begonia patterns, offers personalized voice and app-controlled lighting while prioritizing sustainability through its recyclable P-PETG and stainless steel construction. Inspired by mid-century architectural details, it encourages user interaction with an eco-friendly design that brings heritage and tranquility to modern living.
3. Zifei Ding – RE-CRAFT logo
Zifei Ding is an outstanding visual designer. For many years, she has been skilled at using geometric and symbolic language to convey the value of design.
Her visual symbol designs were exhibited at RE/CRAFT. She used minimalist design and color-block outlines to explain the significance of the connection between sustainable materials, nature, and public life. Ding’s visual symbols enhance the visual impact of the sustainable material, black clay products. In addition, she designed a new logo for the RE-CRAFT exhibition, allowing RE-CRAFT to explain the project’s significance to society and the public more clearly.
4. Minxuan Zhao – Lesley Studio
Minxuan Zhao describes herself as an ordinary person. She focuses on what she loves, even when it feels difficult, and her mind is trained to persist until she reaches her goals. She often finds herself taking on the work of ten people, all on her own.
When it comes to Lesley Studio products, she is passionate about sharing the items she has cherished for years. Her goal is to bring her imagination to life. Each challenge brings a mix of anxiety and excitement, driving her forward. She’s meticulous about details, sometimes obsessively so, and deeply committed to every product’s overall feel and experience.
5. Xixiao Zhang – “Kinetic Catalyst”
Xixiao Zhang is an architecture and interior designer focused on innovative, sustainable solutions for urban spaces and better living environments.
“Kinetic Catalyst” architectural design embodies interactive and sustainable design, dynamically responding to user behavior and environmental changes. The exhibition presents the concept as a table lamp model, merging energy efficiency, environmental awareness, and architectural artistry.
6. Dingdong Tang – DiveAscent
Dingdong Tang, founder of LYT-X Studio, is an award-winning architectural designer recognized with IDA, AIA Design, and Architizer A+ Awards. His forward-thinking work, driven by sustainability, emerging technologies, and AI, has been widely exhibited and internationally published, reflecting a bold vision for the future of the built environment.
DiveAscent reimagines the historic roof as a connective civic landmark, breathing new life into the original structure through a contemporary architectural language. Anchoring the harbor activates public space and fosters inclusion, resilience, and cultural vibrancy—advancing architecture’s social mission and its role in shaping a more sustainable, equitable future.
7. Haisheng Xu – Project “DiveAscent”
Haisheng Xu is a Los Angeles–based architectural designer and co-founder of LYT-X Studio. His practice spans diverse project types and explores the artistic and sustainable potential of architectural language. His work integrates parametric design tools and cutting-edge technologies with a forward-thinking vision of sustainability for design innovation.
Project “DiveAscent” transforms a historic structure into a museum with fluid exhibition spaces, extending its curvilinear form into dynamic interior walls that reinvigorate the original structure. A green roof with panoramic views highlights its sustainable vision. The design honors Le Havre’s heritage while embracing social and cultural innovation.
8. Zehui Li – “DiveAscent”
Zehui Li is a Los Angeles-based architectural designer. In his practice, Zehui focuses on architectural place-making, proposing new aesthetic explorations and revitalizing the historical context under the framework of cutting-edge technology and sustainability. His work blurs the boundaries of Old and New, Art and Technology.
In the “DiveAscent” project, the sunken modules at the central plaza integrate natural light, greenery, recreation, and public gathering programs through geometric and scale variations. Such a transformation strategy organically integrates the narratives of architectural place-making and sustainability while proposing new artistic typologies.
9. Yiting Chen – “Summer”
Yiting Chen is a popular graphic designer and visual artist who specializes in creating works with themes of nature and the environment. Through her designs, she hopes to arouse people’s respect and awareness of protecting the natural environment. Over the years, her graphic design and product design have won many international awards.
Yiting designed the visual packaging product “Summer” for recyclable ceramics, in which natural elements echo the concept of sustainability. Her design allows users to better understand the value of combining sustainable materials with environmentally friendly concepts.
10. Bo Zhang – The Ripples collection
Bo Zhang is a designer, artist, and curator based in New York City. His work connects sustainability, craftsmanship, and design with the public, aiming to create design that holds deeper value for society and the environment. He is curating the RE-CRAFT Exhibition at ICFF.
The Ripples collection plays with perception and reflection in a way that challenges the viewer’s understanding of space. It creates a fantastic feeling of visual magic.
In 2024, Bo Zhang co-founded RE/CRAFT, a platform focused on showcasing the value of sustainability, culture, and craftsmanship through its products. RE/CRAFT balances sustainable materials, industry needs, functionality, and social value.
If you’re attending ICFF, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, from May 18-20, 2025, in New York City, don’t miss the RE-CRAFT Exhibition. This annual design show, which has been a key platform for showcasing trending furniture and industrial design since 1989, is the perfect place to experience design that makes an actual impact.
