What I learned by improvising a BBQ in a 600-year-old Chinese village

Back at the start of April I accompanied my long time collaborator, co-teacher, past-studiomate and old pal Ted Burdett on a whirlwind trip to Guangzhou China. Ostensibly, I came along to help advise and assist with his latest project, The Insta-Lite Grill (https://instalitegrill.com)—but as it turns out I was really there to host a cook out party for the Chinese village we were staying in.

After a productive meeting with his contract manufacturing partner, we hauled the grill prototype back to the Gangtou Ancient Village, where we were staying in an inn within the 600 year-old village. Ted thought booking a more rural place to stay—outside the density of the 18 million person megapolis of Guangzhou—might give us an opportunity to test the grill and take some photos. So we bought some groceries and started to set up the early production sample fan-assisted charcoal grill on the promenade.

What we didn't realize was that it was the "Tomb Sweeping Holiday" in China, so the normally sleepy village was throbbing with people who were back home for the holiday. Children on bikes, young men on motorcycles, families on scooters, dapper men who knew their manufacturing process...they all stopped by to check out what we were doing; and luckily our translator was there to help us talk about the design and collect our totally unsolicited (yet appreciated) feedback.

As the night went on, a man who ran the snack shop/barber shop at the end of the promenade insisted that we bring the party down to the front of his shop. We continued to demo the grill and bond over the universal language of flame and food. His 80 year old parents rolled up on a scooter, his Hong Kong lawyer daughter was back from the city, his brothers and nieces kept popping by to hang around the fire. Beer was drank, late night Chinese sausages were grilled, translated stories were shared.

Design can often times be a clinical practice of "users" and "units" but the most meaningful moments of my career are truly the ones where the things we make connect real people to each other.

Hi, it’s me looking a little exhausted, but I swear I’m having fun.