Launching Aluminium in 1999, David Chiu introduced the concept of ‘designer chairs’ into Hong Kong, bringing in classics such as the Ball and Panton chairs. In 2009, to celebrate Aluminium’s 10th anniversary, Chiu commissioned special edition Eames Elephant chairs, re-designed by Hong Kong designers Michael Young, André Fu, Alice Chan, Alive not Dead and ShyaLaLa, as well as five Hong Kong students. This year, he has launched worldwide special editions by Vitra, Kartell, Magis and Fritz Hansen, exclusively for Aluminium.

Michael Siu is professor of the School of Design and leader of Public Design Lab at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He was Fulbright Scholar at MIT and Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley. His research and design interests are in public design and user-reception. He has won numerous international design and invention awards, and owns more than 50 US and Asian invention and design patents.