Cecilia Xinyu Zhang
In Bergen, a designer is making mundane objects beautiful.
When Cecilia Xinyu Zhang was invited to study design in Sweden, the decision to leave her native China was easy. “I was attracted to something so exotic and different from what I was used to,” she says. Six years later, she’s a breakout talent on Scandinavia’s design scene. Here, Xinyu Zhang talks to MacKenzie Lewis Kassab about a lauded partnership with Norwegian brand Northern, and finding beauty in the quotidian.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Beijing, a city of 20 million people. It’s very dense. You’re surrounded by people speaking, walking too fast and pushing their way through the subway. I go back once in a while, just to experience something so different from Bergen, where I live now.
How did you end up in Norway?
I traveled twice to Bergen while I was a stude...
