From Shanghai to Beijing, Orient and Occident, China and Italy meet in our November issue, setting their sights on a polyphonic project of constant evolution and interchange, in many different ways.

The Italian architect Mauro Lipparini designs a sophisticated home that relies on the high quality of Made in Italy. The studio Vudafieri Saverino creates spaces for four kindergartens like a pedagogical fable. Alberto Caiola, Andrea Caputo and Kokaistudios imagine shopping malls (for mixed use) that are ‘contaminated’ by cultural spaces.

In the meantime, the latest generation of Chinese designers, often educated abroad, seems to be focusing more on special effects to surprise an audience of savvy millennials. X+Living, Kyle Chan&Associates, Wutopia Lab, for example, experiment with consumer trends as Instagram-ready experiences, in new bookstores and restaurants.

The restoration of historic facades, the rediscovery and conservation of the past of Atelier Deshaus shift the perspective yet again, with the regeneration of abandoned industrial areas to create spaces for exhibitions and temporary events, representing a turning point for the identity of contemporary Shanghai.

A turning point also represented, in the area of design, by a reworking of traditional languages: new opportunities for local brands with original content, and above all Italian companies, increasingly appreciated for their design values.