“I believe that Chinese people need smart working even more than Europeans”. The Estel’s president Alberto Stella commented with these words the opening of the first company’s showroom in Shanghai on 21st June.
Started with the Expo2015, the Estel’s Italian Smart Office concept is based on principles like ergonomics, sharing and connectivity to create a comprehensive experience of shapes, colors and functions.
“Our showrooms are not about a catalogue of products: since Expo2015, when Estel introduced the Italian Smart Office concept, our approach has been focused on the design of environments rather than on the product designing.”.
The Estel’s president Alberto Stella presented the first Chinese company’s showroom dedicated to the East-Asian market. After the international spaces in Munich, Madrid, Barcellona, New York, Panama, Tel Aviv, thanks to the collaboration with the Chinese multinational corporation Aurora Group, Estel opens a showroom also in Shanghai, presenting a selection of products of the line Smart Office.
Can products specifically designed for the Italian office have success in a dynamic market like the Chinese one? Is the Asian market ready for smart working? How can the “western office” values, such as flexibility, ergonomics, soundproofing or sharing, be integrated into the Asian contemporary working culture?
“In Chinese cities as Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou people face mobility problems every day due to excessive traffic, for this reason, they are getting more digital oriented” Alberto Stella explained to WOW! “As we know, Chinese people are capable of recognizing high-quality products, both in design and fashion: our challenge will be to highlight the ‘Made in Italy’ value through the Italian Smart Office concept so that, product design aside, people can appreciate the numerous functions and ways of an Office Environment Design”.
What are the requirements and the response Estel expects from the Chinese market?
“We shall start with the presentation and the commercialization of our products in a smart contest. The second and third stage will have then as objective an on-the-spot production of part of the items, strictly according to the ‘Made in Italy’ standards.”, Stella declared. “Our Chinese partner completely agrees with our way to do business: Aurora and Estel committed themselves to invest in human resources, besides technology, in order to share and transfer the necessary know-how.
Text by Gabriele Masi.
