Wood is at the heart of his designs

The other word in the name of his brand, ban, expresses his idea about life as well as design.

Related: Creative space

"Being half gives myself more choices and enough freedom," he says.

Lu jokes that his "split life" inspired him to do the brand design.

Born in Sichuan province and studied architecture at Shanghai Tongji University, Lu had been teaching in the university from 1990 to 2010.

Being a teacher, says Lu, demands lots of theories, especially when students ask for answers. However, practical design seems to break rules in books, which allows Lu to experiment.

"On the one hand, I had to adhere to the rules taught from books. On the other hand, I broke rules in my design works," he says.

"When you want to learn marketing strategy, it's not necessary to look over books. Observing a vendor riding a tricycle and selling apples might be of great help because it's the most basic and useful strategy," he adds.

The designer is showing his attitude about design and his perspective about the relationship between design and the contemporary world through an exhibition in Beijing, which reviews his works since the founding of the brand.

A wooden screen is put in the front door of the exhibition, which Lu says shows Chinese people's personality: conservative and modest.

Interpreting personalities of local people is one of the designer's approaches to designing furniture and home decorations.

His Suzhou Chair collections, which he was invited to exhibit at Milan Design Week in 2012, and the Anhui series, including desk, chair and couch, portray the personalities of local people living in Suzhou and Anhui.

The designer's first collection, Joss Stick - a series of incense holders, stationery and tableware - is also displayed at the exhibition.

The exhibition is ongoing at Gehua Design Hall at Gehua Tower, Beijing, until Feb 6.

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn