When Design Stops Making "More": Dieter Rams: Less, but Better Shanghai Exhibition Inaugurates
On January 21, 2026, the Dieter Rams: Less, but Better exhibition officially opened on the third floor of the Fosun Foundation in Shanghai. Co-organized by the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation and the Fosun Foundation (Shanghai), with academic support from the Rams Foundation, Germany, and supported by the Department of Culture and Education at the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany Shanghai, the opening ceremony was hosted by Duanmu Xiazi, Exhibition Director at Fosun Foundation. Speeches were delivered by distinguished guests including Dr. Hehn-Chu Ahn, representative of the Rams Foundation; Ms. Cui Qiao, Chairperson of the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation; and Dr. Evelin Hust, Head of the Department of Culture and Education and Consul at the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany Shanghai. The subsequent opening forum, featuring Dr. (Blue) Xue Haian, Professor at the College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University; Yang Wenqing, Associate Professor at the College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University; Dr. Hehn-Chu Ahn; and Liu Haoran, General Manager of the OPPO Industrial Design Center, explored how "Less, but Better" might shape the future.
▲"Dieter Rams: Less, but Better" exhibition in Shanghai © Fosun Foundation
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Tracing the Origins of Design: Understanding "Less, but Better" Through the Exhibition
The Dieter Rams: Less, but Better exhibition was curated with the direct participation of Dieter Rams himself, in collaboration with curator Klaus Klemp and Ms. Cui Qiao, Chairperson of the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation.
Upon entering the exhibition, visitors are not immediately drawn to numerous products. Instead, they are guided back to a more fundamental question: How were these designs conceived? Each visitor begins their journey through the exhibition with this question in mind.
The exhibition entrance begins with an introduction to Dieter Rams' design path, tracing his early experiences in architecture and interior design, the pivotal moment of joining Braun in 1955, and the significant role the Ulm School of Design (HfG Ulm) played in shaping his design values. This section outlines the origins of Dieter Rams' design thinking for the audience, explaining why he consistently adhered to a rational, restrained, and systematic design stance.
The subsequent section, "Design and Team," shifts the perspective from the individual to collaboration. During his time at Braun, Dieter Rams typically worked with a small, efficient team of around 15 people, advancing decisions through repeated prototyping, user testing, and engineering discussions to ensure a high degree of unity in a product's function, structure, and visual language. This unit emphasizes not individual style, but the potential of design as a long-term organizational practice.
▲"Dieter Rams: Less, but Better" exhibition in Shanghai © Fosun Foundation
Continuing through the exhibition, 50 panels interconnect design sketches, photographic images, and textual explanations, constructing a clear path from needs analysis and structural deduction to interface formation. Visitors can see that design is not a product of instant inspiration, but a process gradually shaped through continuous revision and judgment.
In the representative works section, the exhibition presents approximately 30 original design objects and related archival materials, encompassing Braun radios, amplifiers, calculators, and clocks, as well as furniture systems like the Vitsœ 606 Shelving System, showcasing their design strategies concerning expandability, compatibility, and long lifecycle maintenance.
▲Original design products from the "Dieter Rams: Less, But Better" exhibition in Shanghai © Fosun Foundation
▲Original design products from the "Dieter Rams: Less, But Better" exhibition in Shanghai © Fosun Foundation, 條六
Meanwhile, a collection of small everyday objects – such as door handles and razors – illustrates, through meticulous detail, how "good design" continuously improves specific, nuanced user experiences within larger industrial systems.
This China tour also specially features a selection of photographic works by Ingeborg Rams, Dieter Rams' wife. In a restrained yet precise manner, she captured numerous valuable images of Braun and Vitsœ products. These works reposition the prototypes and objects within the exhibition back into a context of "being viewed and used," offering an additional perspective on how design enters everyday life. The "Braun Clocks & Calculators" section is another new addition to the China tour, systematically presenting the design evolution from alarm clocks and table clocks to wristwatches, demonstrating the continuous and nuanced exploration by Dieter Rams and his long-term partner Dietrich Lubs in the realm of "designing time."
▲"Dieter Rams: Less, but Better" exhibition in Shanghai Photo: 條六
The exhibition concludes with the "Ten Principles of Good Design," returning the power of judgment to the audience: In an era where both resources and attention are scarce, how much more do we truly need to produce? And how should we understand what constitutes "better" objects for our time?
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Beyond the Gallery: A Discussion on Design, Responsibility, and the Future
▲ At the opening forum of the exhibition "Dieter Rams: Less, but Better" © Fosun Foundation
At the forum held on the exhibition's opening day, four guests from diverse backgrounds in academia, industry, and foundations gathered around the theme "How does 'Less, but Better' Shape the Future?" Drawing from their respective practices, they engaged in a discussion on design responsibility, sustainability, and contemporary judgment.
Dr. Hehn-Chu Ahn, representative of the Rams Foundation, began by revisiting the historical context in which Dieter Rams formulated his principles of good design. She noted that as early as the 1970s, Rams had already recognized the pressure industrial production placed on the environment and psychological space. In her view, "Less, but Better" is not an aesthetic preference but a sense of responsibility – design should reduce resource consumption and minimize environmental and visual disruption, creating products that remain relevant and un-fatiguing through long-term use. It is for this reason that Dieter Rams' designs retain their relevance today.
Dr. (Blue) Xue Haian, Professor at the College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, approached the topic from the perspective of education and design methodology, emphasizing that "durability" is not merely physical but also involves establishing an emotional connection. He believes that truly good design can build a stable and lasting bond with people through prolonged use, and this "emotional durability" is precisely the value most easily overlooked in today's fast-consumption logic. The designer's task is not just to create novelty, but to create things worthy of long-term preservation.
Yang Wenqing, Associate Professor at the College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, broadened the perspective to a systemic level. He pointed out that the success of Dieter Rams' design was inseparable from the support of a platform and team like Braun. Good design is not an isolated individual expression; it is the result of a confluence of industry, organization, and shared values. In the contemporary Chinese context, there is no shortage of excellent designers, but what is needed are platforms capable of embracing long-termism and rational judgment, enabling "Less, but Better" to take root.
Liu Haoran, General Manager of the OPPO Industrial Design Center, responded from the frontline of commercial design practice, addressing another dimension of "better." In his view, as functionality and technology gradually homogenize, design is shifting from solving problems to responding to people's emotions and value identification. Products are no longer just functional assemblages but mediums carrying lifestyles and attitudes. The ability to resonate with users is becoming a crucial measure of design value.
In the latter half of the forum, the discussion extended to the relationship between AI and design. The guests reached a consensus: AI will accelerate production at the tool level, but judgment, the ability to choose, and understanding humanity will remain irreplaceable cores of design. As Dieter Rams consistently maintained, the key to design lies not in "how much can be done," but in knowing "whether it should be done."
From the original objects in the gallery to the diverse perspectives in the forum, Dieter Rams: Less, but Better does not offer a simple answer but continually poses questions back to our current context. In an era of accelerating technology and overwhelming choice, how to maintain restraint, cultivate judgment, and respect long-term value – this is precisely the proposition the exhibition hopes to contemplate alongside its audience.
○ Exhibition Information
·Exhibition Title: Dieter Rams: Less but Better
·Exhibition Dates: January 21, 2026 – February 11, 2026
·Opening Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday 10:00 - 18:00; Thursday, Saturday 10:00 - 20:00; Closed Mondays (except public holidays). Last entry 30 minutes before closing.
·Venue: 3rd Floor Exhibition Hall, Fosun Foundation (600 Zhongshan Road East No.2, Huangpu District, Shanghai)
l Curators: Klaus Klemp, Cui Qiao
l Co-organized by: Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation, Fosun Foundation (Shanghai)
l Academic Support: Rams Foundation, Germany
l Supported by: Department of Culture and Education at the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany Shanghai
l BCAF Project Team: Cui Qiao, Guo Hanqiu, Luo Jiawen, Li Rui, Zhao Yi, Liu Yixin, Gu Zuo
l Admission: Please purchase tickets via the Fosun Foundation mini-program, Damai, or Maoyan platforms.
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