What’s it like to be in Shanghai in 2018? To live and work in the most dynamic city in China? The answers are in this issue, presented in the context of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Shanghai. Our in-depth focus, ranging from architecture to design to art, explores the seductive city on the Bund, enlivened by mysterious atmospheres and elegant nocturnal lights.

A building is not its roof and its walls, but a space in which to live,” said the philosopher Laozi (4th century BC). As can be seen, for example, in the Bulgari Shanghai Hotel & Resort designed by Citterio Viel – described for us by Silvio Ursini, vice-president of the group – a model of a precise Italian way of life adapted to the genius loci.

Or in the Middle House Shanghai, the first hotel designed by Lissoni Architettura, entirely made in China. We also examine projects by the Dutch architect Ben Van Berkel, co-founder of UNStudio, that bring together living, work and recreation in a single setting. By contrast, readers can see modern reinterpretations of the classic Chinese house by Vector Architects in Singapore and by Neri & Hu in Beijing.

All these spaces convey their character through sensory shadings and details, in search of a profound relationship with the light, materials and colors of the culture of these places. They embody non-standardized solutions, between conservation and experimentation, which also inspire new design offerings.

The pivotal factor of this production is the quality of fine contemporary craftsmanship, to reinterpret the tradition in creations capable of reconciling distant cultures and characters. China is closer than ever.

 

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Bulgari Shanghai Hotel & Resort by Citterio Viel, Shanghai.
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The Middle House Shanghai by Lissoni Architettura, Shanghai.
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Neri & Hu, Beijing.
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Ben Van Berkel, UNStudio, Shanghai.
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Vector Architects, Singapore.